26/11/2009

McDowell Beaten At Festive Market

There was again little sign of festive cheer last night as a newspaper editor was badly beaten by a gang outside Belfast City Hall.

Sunday World's northern editor Jim McDowell was beaten to the ground and kicked about the head in an attack that occurred in the middle of the busy Continental Market.

Four men attacked the journalist who was beaten on the head and body and treated in hospital for a bleeding ear and bruising.

The attack happened less than a fortnight after supporters of four loyalists accused of murdering Sunday World journalist Martin O'Hagan smashed up McDowell's car.

That vandalism happened while McDowell was inside Craigavon Court House attending a bail hearing for the men facing charges connected to the O'Hagan murder.

Yesterday evening, Mr McDowell was singled out as he went to a portable toilets behind the stalls.

It happened just a day after a sectarian 'mini-riot' erupted just after the switching on of the city's Christmas lights.

South Belfast MP Dr Alasdair McDonnell has condemned the attack: "This was a vicious attack on Jim McDowell by cowardly thugs.

"The reason for this brutal assault is simple. These thugs and criminals torment and torture local communities.

"Jim and journalists like him, stand up to and expose these lowlifes so the people of Northern Ireland know exactly who they are and what they do.

"The thuggish criminals can't handle people knowing the truth and so their response is to attack and intimidate those who pursue the truth," he said this morning.

(BMcC/GK)

Related Irish News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

28 May 2014
Man Injured In Gun Attack
A man, 21, has been shot in Dublin in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The attack happened at Slieve Bloom Park in Driminagh at around 5.10am. The man is being treated for injuries to his leg at St James' Hospital. Gardai are appealing to witnesses to contact them.
05 October 2007
€10,000 Reward Offered For Athlone Serial Attacker
A reward of €10,000 has been offered in a bid to catch the man who is believed to be behind three recent attacks on women in Athlone. Three women have been attacked in the area in the past eight weeks at Bonavalley Bridge in Athlone, near the Institute of Technology. The latest attack happened between 10pm and 11pm on Wednesday night.
03 June 2013
Man Injured In Dublin Attack
A man has been injured in a serious attack in Dublin. It happened in Kearn's Place at around 2am this morning. The victim, believed to be in his 30s, was slashed across the face. He is currently at St James's Hospital, where his injuries are being described as "superficial".
10 May 2010
US Student Regains Consciousness
There was good news from the USA this week as Co Armagh student, Natasha McShane came out of her coma. The 23-year-old Silverbridge woman was badly beaten in a baseball attack in America last month and had been in a drug induced coma in intensive care after she was hit on the back of the head in Chicago last month.
30 October 2009
Assaulted French Student Defiant
A leading political figure in the North has roundly condemned an attack this week that left a French student unconscious. The SDLP Foyle MP Mark Durkan was commenting after the student was assaulted in Derry. He was beaten and knocked unconscious by youths in the Bogside area of the city.