Bushmills residents and political representatives express shock and horror at brutal weekend attack

Bushmills residents have expressed their shock and disgust at a brutal attack that involved nailing a man’s hands to a fence at the weekend.

Political representatives have also branded the incident “barbaric,” and urged anyone with information to assist the police investigation.

Police said they received a report in the early hours of Sunday, that a man had been “nailed to a fence with a nail through each hand” at a car park near Dundarave Park.

The victim was treated in hospital for potentially life-changing – but not life-threatening – injuries, the PSNI said.

Two vans were found on fire in the same car park. One of the vans belonged to the victim.

North Antrim DUP MLA Paul Frew said: “This criminal and violent behaviour cannot be tolerated in a peaceful community and has to be condemned. I have spoken to Cllr Sharon McKillop and it is our intention to seek a meeting with local police commanders. We make an appeal for information.”

UUP leader Doug Beattie said we need to stop referring to the people who carry out such “barbaric” attacks as a paramilitaries as “they are drug dealers, they are child abusers, they are thieves, they are criminals, and they need to be treated as such”.

Mr Beattie said he appreciated the fears people would have about coming forward with information, and appealed for all law enforcement and intelligence agencies to work together to end the harm.

"We have seen this before, where they are nothing more than an organised crime gang,” he told the BBC.

"Until we take them apart we can’t rely on the community, that’s unfair, because they are being ruled by fear”.

Also speaking to the BBC, one resident said the area has been busy with tourists.

"Coming into a bank holiday weekend… there are quite a lot of people about. It doesn’t do the tourist industry much good.”

Another said: "I found it very hard to believe to start with, just that somebody could be so evil to do something like that to another human being. It really is quite despicable”.

PSNI assistant chief constable Bobby Singleton described the attack as “very shocking for everybody in that local community”.