‘PSNI must brand Protestant beaten out of estate with baseball bat a sectarian hate crime’

A south Armagh community worker has claimed the PSNI should confirm that a paramilitary style attack on a young man was a sectarian hate incident - and publicly acknowledge that he was issued with a death threat.
By Philip Bradfield
Published 10th Dec 2021, 18:58 BST
Updated 11th Dec 2021, 12:21 BST
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On November 19 police reported an aggravated burglary at the St Matthews Estate in Keady, saying three masked men entered a house with a baseball bat and a crowbar and struck the occupant a number of times before leaving.

However the victim told the News Letter this week that the gang told him he was being targeted because he was from Darkley House, which they said was “full of Protestants”.

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“And they said I was living in a republican estate and was a Protestant, so I had 24 hours to get out or they would put a bullet in my head,” the victim said.

A man shows the injuries to his legs after being beat with a baseball bat in a Keady housing estate for being a Protestant.A man shows the injuries to his legs after being beat with a baseball bat in a Keady housing estate for being a Protestant.
A man shows the injuries to his legs after being beat with a baseball bat in a Keady housing estate for being a Protestant.

“And then they hit me again in the legs and left.”

Darkley House is the south Armagh headquarters of Crossfire Trust, a reconciliation and social care charity.

Director Mr Bothwell said: “I would like to know why the PSNI is not publicly labeling this as what it was - a hate crime and a death threat, as well as a paramilitary style attack?”

He said the PSNI had still not taken a statement from the victim.

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“He is now unable to sleep and has become very withdrawn,” he added.

The News Letter asked the PSNI why their statement did not report it as a sectarian hate crime or mention the death threat.

The PSNI said: “All news releases and appeals are written and issued based on an evaluation of investigative need and the individual circumstances of the incident to coincide with a robust investigation.”

It added: “Enquiries are continuing to establish the circumstances and a sectarian hate crime motivation is one line of enquiry.”

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‘I was beaten out of estate with a baseball bat for being Protestant’

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