North: Police Board deputy urges halt to republican groups

The North's Policing Board deputy chief Denis Bradley has urged the dissident republicans who brutally assaulted him to disband.

Mr Bradley also confirmed he will be quitting the board, which is the authority that holds the police to account, next April.

He stressed that his decision to stand down was taken long before a teenage thug battered him over the head with a baseball bat.

The former priest, who helped broker secret peace talks between the IRA and the British government, was left with serious injuries after being attacked in a Derry bar last month as he watched football with his son.