Loyalists blamed for targeting of prison officer's home

Loyalist paramilitairies have been blamed for an incident in which a device was thrown at a prison officer's home and picked up by a 10-year-old girl.

Bomb disposal experts have defused the device which was thrown at the prison officer's house in Bangor, Co Down, early yesterday morning.

The device smashed a window on the house in Brunswick Street, but landed in the garden and failed to explode.

It was subsequently picked up by a 10-year-old girl, who brought it into the house. The bomb was inside for several hours before the girl's parents realised what it was and called the police.

The incident, which has been blamed on loyalist paramilitaries, was the latest in a series of attacks on the homes of prison officers in the North in recent months.