Disabled men attacked
By Mick Naughton.
The targeting of nationalists by the RUC continued this
week a disabled man had his eyepatch pulled off while
he was stopped and questioned by the RUC on the
Cliftonville Road in North Belfast.
The man, Charlie McMeekin, was walking home when the
incident occurred. He told how the RUC roughed him up
during a body search before one RUC member laughed and
demanded to ``see under that patch.'' Sighted in one eye
for many years now Charlie McMeekin is a familiar
figure in the area.
His mother declared herself ``shattered'' at hearing of
her son's treatment.
``We have contacted our solicitors and will take this
despicable incident as far as we legally can, but I
have to say that this bunch of bigots have no humanity
They have no place in our community''.
Sinn Fein councillor Bobby Lavery also hit out at
``another bunch of sectarian thugs'' who attacked another
disabled nationalist in nearby Newington last Friday
lunchtime. The man, who lives at the flashpoint area
between loyalist Tigers Bay and Newington, was watching
television downstairs when he heard a loud smash
upstairs. Confined to a wheelchair, the middle aged man
realised that a rear window had been smashed. Fearful
of a petrol bomb attack he phoned his sister who
alerted neighbours and the local Sinn Fein office.
``Unfortunately this is a private rented house and
recently the landlord removed security window grilles
to sell the house. But it left this wheelchair-bound
man vulnerable to attack and I am appealing to the
landlord to replace the grilles immediately'', said
Bobby Lavery.
Last year in the area dozens of nationalists were
forced out of their homes by loyalist gangs as the RUC
looked on. .''
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