UDA blamed for attempted murder of Derry man

The loyalist Ulster Defence Association has been blamed for the attempted murder of a 22-year-old man in the Waterside area of Derry yesterday morning.

Darren Thompson was critically wounded after he was shot in the head while walking to work in a UDA-controlled area. The PSNI believed the attack was linked to an on-going loyalist feud in the area.

Two men and a woman are being questioned about the shooting and sources said all three had connections to the loyalist paramilitary organisation.

The PSNI confirmed today that the UDA had ordered a number of people to leave Derry in recent weeks, but Mr Thompson is not believed to have been one of those threatened.