Hutchinson kidnap bid blamed on republicans

DISSIDENT republicans were yesterday blamed for the attempted abduction of a prominent loyalist politician in west Belfast.

Progressive Unionist city councillor Billy Hutchinson was jogging in the Shankill area of the city at about 6.15am when four men in a white Vauxhall Cavalier tried to bundle him into the car.

Mr Hutchinson, a former Assembly member for North Belfast, managed to flee when a security guard in the area intervened.