trim echo of Portadown one year on
Last Friday 8 May, on the first anniversary of the beating to
death of Robert Hamill in Portadown, another Catholic, a 15 year
old Belfast boy, narrowly escaped a similar fate in Antrim.
Kevin Tierney from the New Lodge area of the city was attacked by
a Loyalist mob from the notorious Ballycraigy estate wielding
baseball bats and sledgehammers. The gang, including men in their
thirties, attacked the boy in a Nationalist area of the town as
he stood chatting to friends.
``The older men were hitting my legs with sledgehammers,'' said
Kevin, ``but I was kicking out so I managed to avoid most of the
blows.''
He sustained severe cuts and bruises in the attack, one injury
required 9 stitches to his head, before people in nearby houses
came out and managed to drive the gang from the area.
``I was in shock when I heard what happened, Kevin's never been in
any trouble before'' said Marian Fennell, Kevin's mother, ``He's
lucky to be alive. I wouldn't want him going back to Antrim''
Kevin regularly spends the weekends in the town visiting his
grandfather but the attack has made him think twice about these
trips too, ``I'd go down again but just for the afternoon,'' he
said, `` I'd want to get back home the same afternoon.''
As in the Robert Hamill case the RUC have been slow to act,
no-one has yet been questioned about the attack.
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)