A Catholic man savagely beaten by a loyalist gang wielding hatchets and iron bars last night told how he thought he “was going to die”. Dee Sturgeon (22) described the terrifying moment when up to 10 men burst into the home he shares with his Protestant girlfriend and their 11 week-old daughter in a loyalist area of west Belfast.

“They said ‘you will never be back here again you dirty Fenian bastard.’ Mr Sturgeon said he feared for his life during the brutal assault in Ballygomartin Drive around 9:30pm on Friday. The victim, originally from the Markets area of south Belfast said he was in no doubt that he was targeted because of his religion.

‘I will never feel safe in a Protestant area again’ (Connia Young, Irish News) [behind paywall]