Belfast shoppers were left horrified after two men wearing Rangers scarves - one armed with a baseball bat - approached a 33-year-old
man from behind on Saturday afternoon, struck him across the back of the
head and continued beating him as he lay on the floor of the busy mall.

The man was taken to hospital with head injuries.

Earlier that afternoon, a woman also working on the stall was punched in the face by another woman.

Stall owner Gary Rodgers said that he had been due to stay in CastleCourt for six months but was now planning to leave the pitch at the end of the week after less than a month.

"There were young children and pensioners screaming, there was blood everywhere. To be honest, I thought the man was dead – it was absolutely horrific."

A spokesman for CastleCourt confirmed the attack had taken place inside
the mall.

"Our security team responded quickly and the matter is now being dealt
with by police."

A police spokesman said it is using CCTV to track down the attackers.

"At this stage no arrests have been made and a motive is still under investigation," he said.