PSNI continue hammer attack probe

Police investigating a hammer attack which left a businessman critically ill in south Belfast have been granted an additional 24 hours to question a man, it emerged today.

Detectives are also having forensic tests carried out on blood and fibre samples in a bid to trace three men who escaped.

The man under interrogation - detained by police when a stolen car was stopped after Maurice McCracken, 54, was bludgeoned in his bed - comes from west Belfast.

Mr McCracken’s condition in hospital today was described as “critical, but stable”.

He was attacked at his home by four men who broke in demanding his car keys.

Another man and his son were also beaten by the same gang in a nearby house, also in the Strangford Avenue area of Malone.

Meanwhile police today claimed that drink related assaults in south Belfast dropped by almost 20% in the final three months of last year.

It followed the introduction of an initiative involving police, pub and club owners in and around the university area where thousands of young people socialise every weekend.

An estimated 263 fewer people had been assaulted because of the scheme, police said.

Inspector Keith Gilchrist said: “The combination of intelligence-led policing, positive effective police action working in partnership with a range of agencies has undoubtedly helped.”