Non-life-threatening injuries and the scandal of shooting children…

I couldn’t sleep last Thursday night. I live in West Belfast and there was a helicopter hovering right above our house. The noise always reminds me of older times when military helicopters were so common that we almost didn’t hear them anymore. Yes, times have changed…. Except, it seems that I was not the only one not sleeping that night. Around 11 pm a child (we still recognise those under 18 as children, right?) was taken up a side street …

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Crime and punishment (beatings)…

It was a hellish scene. The shaky video taken on someone’s phone showed a stolen car speeding up and down the Falls Road, doing hand brake turns at brake neck speed. Tyres and onlookers squealed; smoke filled the air. Terrified road users attempted to make it by without getting written off and pedestrians fled from the area. Just as the video came to an abrupt end, the sound of shots could be heard ringing out above the sound of the …

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First Minister issues warning over alleged political connection to punishment shooting…

There’s little to say about this just yet other than to note that the return of punishment shootings in Belfast is hardly a sign of health in the so called peace process. A returning to old ways? The fact that the PSNI are questioning Sean Kelly, the man convicted of the Shankill bomb (and released on licence), will not do much for public confidence either. Indeed, it has already prompted the First Minister to issue the following statement: “The family …

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