Sectarian killing in Coleraine
The UDA was almost certainly responsible for shooting dead a Catholic man in Coleraine, County Derry, on Saturday night 23 June.
John McCormick (25) was shot several times in the chest and head as he lay on the sofa in his living room on the loyalist Ballysally estate at approximately 10pm on Saturday. His two young sons, aged 6 and 4, as well as the dead man's nephew and niece, witnessed the shooting.
According to McCormick's partner Lynn McConnell, who is six months pregnant, the two killers forced their way into the house through a back door and shot McCormick as he watched television. McConnell accused the UDA of being behind the killing and said ``he was shot because he was a Catholic''.
Only three weeks ago, a pipe bomb was thrown at the couple's home and also in the last year there have been several incidents in which McCormick was targeted by the UDA.
This series of attacks are thought to have been carried out because McCormick was prepared to give evidence against UDA men involved in the shooting of 11-year-old Charlene Daly. Charlene was injured in a gun attack on her home in August last year, believed to have been carried out by the UDA as part of their feud with the UVF.
In the past year, the UDA in the North County Derry town have been particularly active. As well as its involvement in feuding with the UVF, the loyalist gang has carried out numerous gun and bomb attacks on Catholics living in the area. Several families have moved out of Coleraine, after being targeted by the UDA.
This latest attack, so far the most serious, is being seen as an attempt by the UDA to crank up tension in the run up to Drumcree.
The dead man's funeral took place in Coleraine on Wednesday 27 June.
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