Republican News · Thursday 28 August 2003

UVF 'Brigadier' charged with brutal assault

Mount Vernon UVF 'Brigadier' Mark Haddock is back in Belfast.

The portly UVF commander had been on the run for almost three weeks, but was finally tracked down and arrested in south Wales this past Wednesday, 20 August.

Haddock was arrested as he sat in a car waiting to disembark the Dún Laoghaire to Holyhead ferry after it had docked at the Welsh port. He was then returned to Belfast and charged with attempted murder, arson, assault and unlawful imprisonment, following a vicous attack on a pub doorman last year.

Haddock denies all the charges.

Doorman Trevor Gowdy was beaten and struck repeatedly with a hatchet, crowbar and baton near a social club in the Monkstown estate of Newtownabbey on 20 December 2002.

PSNI officers found the seriously injured man lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood. His skull had been fractured and he had suffered bruising to the brain and several hatchet wounds. His car had been set on fire by his attackers and it is even alleged that at one point, someone had tried to chop off his hands.

Gowdy has since moved to England, where he remains in police protection. He still intends to return to the Six Counties to testify against the men who tried to kill him.

But even as Haddock stood in a Belfast courtroom grinning at the nearly 40 UVF supporters who had come to cheer him on, members of Gowdy's family were being moved from their homes in fear for their lives.

The home of one relative has already been targeted in a recent pipe bomb attack, and a further series of threats has been issued against both Gowdy's family and his friends in an ongoing attempt to stop him from giving evidence.

In court this past week, Haddock smiled, raised his hands in triumph, gave the thumbs up sign, and waved to supporters as he was remanded in custody until 17 September. The pro-UVF men and women responded by leaping to their feet, cheering and applauding.

Haddock is the second man to be charged in connection with the attack on Gowdy. North Belfast UVF man, Darren Moore, appeared in court last week, charged in connection with the same attack.

Teenagers hurt in sectarian attack

A North Belfast father has told how his son was one of three teenagers attacked by a gang of unionist paramilitaries carrying baseball bats and golf clubs, as they walked along Alliance Avenue on Saturday afternoon, 23 August.

The three young nationalists had just reached the junction of the Deerpark Road when two men in a Vauxhall Vectra approached from the direction of the loyalist Glenbryn area and blocked their way.

As they turned around to make their escape, a Peugeot 306 carrying five men came from the other direction, hemming them in.

The seven loyalists began to beat the Catholic teenagers with baseball bats and golf clubs. One of the victims managed to escape to a nearby house and raise the alarm.

The unionist gang got back into their cars and made off in the direction of the loyalist Glenbryn.

Sixteen-year-old Jim Foster Jnr, who lives in Ardoyne, received a fractured arm. One of his friends received puncture wounds and bad bruising to his back.

Foster's father fears for other young nationalists in the area given the viciousness of the sectarian attack.

"My son has been badly affected by this attack and his friends are very scared," he said. "It has been fairly quiet around this area during the summer, but these sort of sectarian attacks are happening and they don't make the headlines. Young people around here have to be very careful".

Sinn Fein councillor Margaret McClenaghan said that only for cars stopping and people coming out of their homes, the boys could have been killed.

"The UDA are intent on raising sectarian tensions in the North Belfast area. These sectarian attacks are becoming more frequent and they are becoming particularly vicious in their nature," she said. "I am urging all unionist politicians to take stock of what is happening in this area and to get these sectarian attacks stopped immediately".

McClenaghan called on nationalists to be very vigilant in the coming weeks.

Family forced to move

A woman whose North Belfast home has been the target of a series of sectarian attacks by loyalists has said she cannot take any more and is moving out.

In the latest attack by a loyalist gang, the living room window of her house on the Deerpark Road was smashed and plant pots were also damaged at the weekend.

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of more attacks, said her daughter is too frightened to stay in the house.

"My oldest girl, who is seven, won't stay in the house any longer, so basically it's only me and my six-month-old child. This latest attack is the last straw. We are being attacked because we are Catholics and we have to get out before someone in my family is killed or seriously injured."

Several months ago, her cat was mutilated and thrown into her front garden and sectarian graffiti aimed at her and her neighbours has been spray painted onto houses in the street.

Oldpark Sinn Féin councillor Margaret McClenaghan has put the blame for the escalation in sectarian attacks on the UDA.

"It's definitely the work of the UDA. It seems they want to increase tensions around here for whatever reasons," she said. "This is a mixed area but there are at least two other Catholic families who have been ordered out of Deerpark by these UDA thugs."

McClenaghan has called on political and community activists from the unionist community to take leadership of this problem and put a stop to it at once.

Sinn Féin slams Parades Commission determination

The Parades Commission's decision to allow a Royal Black Preceptory march to parade pass the Ardoyne shops on Saturday has been criticised by Sinn Féin as pandering to the Loyal Orders once again.

The commission gave the decision to allow two lodges march past nationalist houses on the Crumlin Road before going to the main demonstration in Ballynahinch, County Down.

Sinn Féin councillor Margaret McClenaghan said that once again the Commission has bowed under pressure and granted a triumphalist march permission to pass Ardoyne despite the Loyal Orders' refusal to talk to anyone to resolve the marching situation.

"Each year, we see marches being allowed to march through nationalist communities while local residents are subjected to militaristic operations hemming them into their homes from the early hours," she said. "This is despite the continual efforts of the local residents and their community and political representatives, who have attempted to foster dialogue in order to achieve a long term solution. But there is no reciprocation whatsoever coming from any of the Loyal Orders."

Systematic crusade against Catholics

Lagan Valley Sinn Féin councillor Paul Butler has accused loyalists of being involved in a systematic campaign of intimidation against Catholics in the Lisburn area.

Butler told An Phoblacht that in recent times his home has been attacked by loyalists with fire bombs and that numerous threats, including one naming his partner, have been painted on walls in Dunmurry and outside the council office in Lisburn.

He vowed that he will not be silenced by those leading the sectarian campaign, which has resulted in him receiving a live bullet through the post along with a death threat.

"It is a sustained effort to intimidate me from continuing to expose sectarianism from both inside and outside Lisburn City Council," he said.

Butler called on the MP for the area, Jeffrey Donaldson, to speak out against the ongoing campaign of sectarian intimidation, which has resulted in numerous Catholic families having to move from their homes.

"In other areas of the constituency, particularly in Stoneyford, over twelve Catholic families have been forced to put their homes up for sale in recent times, such is the ongoing sectarian intimidation. This situation cannot be allowed to continue. We need to see a united political front to expose and end this vicious anti-Catholic crusade and the Lagan Valley MP needs to be at the forefront of this."

Unionist paramilitaries blockade dole office

A gang of unionist thugs linked to the LVF have been conducting a campaign of terror and intimidation outside a County Down dole office.

The gang of loyalist drug dealers has been issuing death threats to people outside the Social Security Agency on Bridge Street in Downpatrick for months now. In the latest incident - which took place earlier this month - the PSNI had to be called in to protect terrified women and children who were trying to enter and leave the office building.

A number of men were also attacked before the PSNI arrived on the scene, and as a result of the assaults and intimidation, many people who had previously used the office have now arranged to receive their benefits through the post.

The same group of thugs has also been blamed for starting a "mini-riot" in the town earlier this year, and for a series of muggings and brutal assaults. In one instance, they attacked a shop owner after attempting to rob his store.

Sinn Féin's Eamonn Mac Con Mídhe says people can't get their benefits for fear of being attacked or intimidated.

"They are conducting a campaign of terror throughout the town and they think they can get away with it," he said.