Writers demand end to campaign against Belfast colleague

A number of writers have come together to demand an end to a loyalist campaign of intimidation against one of their colleagues in Belfast.

Gary Mitchell, who has written dramas about loyalist paramilitaries, has been forced to evacuate his family from their home in Glengormley as a result of the intimidation.

Loyalists have petrol-bombed his home and have also forced his parents out of their house in the loyalist estate of Rathcoole.

A group of Mr Mitchell's fellow writers, including Colin Bateman, Michael Longley and Martin Lynch, have now taken out an advertisement in a Belfast newspaper demanding an end to the campaign.