Four held after schoolboy bludgeoned
A Catholic man was among four suspects being questioned tonight about a loyalist sectarian beating in Northern Ireland that has left a schoolboy fighting for his life.
Michael McIlveen, 15, was chased from a cinema and battered by a gang in Ballymena, Co Antrim.
A baseball bat was used by the thugs who cornered their victim before stamping on his head, relatives claimed.
Police are treating the assault early on Sunday morning as attempted murder.
It sent revulsion sweeping through a town plagued by sectarian tensions, including clashes between rival gangs of youths.
Less than 24 hours later a man was beaten in an attack which detectives believe was linked.
Urging public representatives to use their influence on rival Protestant and Catholic factions, Ballymena’s police commander Superintendent Terry Shevlin warned: “We must try to bring young people back from the brink on this.”
Michael, a Catholic, was targeted as he returned home from getting a pizza, according to his family.
The St Patrick’s High School student and his friends were pursued for about half-a-mile from the IMC Cinema complex.
They scattered but tragically the teenager could not escape and was set upon in the Granville Drive area.
The full extent of his injuries were only discovered after he managed to get home.
He was taken to the Antrim area hospital where his family have maintained a bedside vigil.
One of his relatives said: “He is a wee innocent child lying there.
“His body, full of life, is now hooked up to machines keeping him alive.”
The four arrested include a 17, 18 and 19-year-old.
But while Mr Shevlin insisted the attack was fuelled by sectarianism, it has emerged that one of the chief suspects was brought up as a Catholic.
Forensic officers spent hours trawling through the house where he lives in the town, searching for possible evidence.
CCTV footage was also being studied in a bid to identify the gang members.
“We have a 15-year-old young person fighting for his life and there’s been this sectarian undertone for quite some time in Ballymena between rival groups of people,” Mr Shevlin added.
“We’re quite clear that the motive for this assault was of a sectarian nature.
“I’m making a clear appeal to civic leaders, community leaders and others with influence in the Ballymena area to not only condemn this, which every right thinking person would do, but to exercise whatever influence they can to prevent any retaliatory attacks that would have another family in the position this family is currently undergoing.”
Police fears of further violence heightened when a man aged 45 was attacked in the Dunclug area of the town last night.
Although his injuries are not believed to be life threatening, detectives suspect he was targeted as part of the same dispute.
A 19-year-old arrested over the second assault was tonight charged with a series of offences, including grievous bodily harm, assault on police, resisting arrest and possession of an offensive weapon.
He is due to appear before magistrates in Ballymena on Tuesday.
A former mayor of Ballymena, Ulster Unionist councillor James Currie, called for a zero tolerance approach to such attacks.
“I offer my deepest sympathies to this young teenager and his family and hope that he makes a full recovery,” he said.
“I am confident that those responsible for this attack will be brought to justice by the police. The police have been active in their approach to halt such incidents and they are doing a very good job in maintaining this to a minimum.
“There is no place for this type of behaviour within our society and I hope that the police employ a zero tolerance approach to show others that these crimes will not be tolerated.”
