Mother blames UDA for attack on son in home

The mother of a nine-year-old boy, who was assaulted with a baseball bat by a gang who also wrecked their north Belfast home, is blaming the UDA for the attack.

Lisa Moore says she believes the gang attacked her home because a family member married a Catholic and the two families occasionally socialise.

Early on Saturday morning, Lisa Moore says she was woken by the sound of crashing to find a gang of up to six masked men in her Rathcoole home smashing it up.

She says her son Tyler was hit in the ribs and on the head, despite her telling them he was only nine and asking them to stop.

She also says the gang held a firearm to the head of a neighbour who had come out of his home to see what the commotion was.

The nine-year-old was kept in hospital for observation overnight but is believed to be recovering well.

Ms Moore says the UDA have threatened her in the past for keeping in contact with her Catholic cousins.

She and her sister are now to leave the area.