Loyalist gang prowling for victims

A Catholic lawyer has been viciously beaten by a gang wielding baseball bats in an unprovoked sectarian attack.

Father-of-two Patrick O’Hare was treated in hospital for serious head injuries after three men set upon him outside his north Belfast home on Monday night.

The 37-year-old had been returning to his home off the Antrim Road from a nearby shop shortly before 9pm.

“Patrick had been out to get milk and had just walked back into the driveway when he was attacked by this gang,” his father told reporters.

“They attacked him with baseball bats and he was badly beaten around the head but he managed to make it to the front door to call his wife.

“She was able to attend to him while an ambulance was called but it was a horrific experience for them both.”

Mr O’Hare was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital for treatment for serious head injuries and was released last night.

It is believed the gang had less than two hours earlier beaten another man cycling along Duncairn Gardens some two miles away.

The 36-year-old was also attacked by three men wielding baseball bats, who are then believed to have escaped in a car.

The victim was also later treated in hospital for his injuries.

North Belfast priest Father Dan Whyte described the two attacks as a “sinister development”.

“This whole business of cars driving around looking for possible targets who are very likely to be Catholic is a very sinister development,” he said.

Nationalists in the area have been urged to remain vigilant.

Urgent Appeal