Man badly injured after being deliberately run over by car
“They then got back into the vehicle and drove over the man as he lay on the ground, then reversed over him ” a police spokeswoman said.
The man was taken to hospital following the assault close to Westkirk Church around 2.45am. He sustained two broken ribs, leg injuries requiring stitches and heavy bruising around his head and body. It was not thought his injuries were life-threatening.
The Ulster Unionist councillor for Shankill, Chris McGimpsey, was baffled over a motive for the attack, but claimed the culprits planned to kill.
He said: “This is clearly an attempted murder. It’s absolutely appalling that people are not safe even to walk a dog on a main road in Belfast.”
Meanwhile, rogue republican terrorists yesterday said they launched a nail bomb attack on a north Belfast police station. Detectives said that officers and members of the public narrowly escaped death in the attack by the dissident Continuity IRA.
Hours after two pipe bombs packed with nails were thrown into Antrim Road station, the paramilitaries called a city hospital to claim responsibility.
One device blew a grille off a window The second was later defused, but Det Insp Brian Logan said the attack could have been deadly.
“They landed right outside the custody suite where two prisoners were inside for interview at the time along with their solicitors.
This was just a wall away from them. The attack came a week after a Continuity IRA bomb containing up to 15lb of explosives injured six officers in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh.
It has also been reported that the splinter grouping has joined forces with the Real IRA and vowed to launch a major new bombing campaign.
