Two held in swoop to 'foil' kidnap and robbery

Two men were arrested today in a police operation to “foil” a kidnap and robbery in north Belfast.

Cash was also seized by officers who swooped after putting the suspects under surveillance.

One of the men being questioned was held by police who crashed into a car in the republican New Lodge district. Eyewitnesses said the man, understood to be aged in his 20s, was badly dazed as he was dragged from the red Hyundai Lantra.

“His eyes were rolling in his head,” said a woman whose house overlooks the scene.

“The cops pinned him down for about 10 minutes before he was taken away.”

Undercover detectives and officers in balaclavas were involved in the operation which centred on two houses. As searches of both properties continued there was rising anger at how police had acted.

Community worker Leo Morgan (aged 37), claimed he had to sprint out of the way of two police cars pursuing the Hyundai.

He said: “They jumped out with machine guns, rugby tackled me to the ground and said if I moved they would shoot me.”

Danny Lavery, a Sinn Féin councillor for the New Lodge, said: “The reaction of the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) was overkill.

“They were running about with balaclavas and went into the house of a man with a bad heart. The wouldn’t let me or another community representative go in to see if he was all right.”

A PSNI spokesman said the operation to “foil” a kidnap and robbery was launched last night.