Bushmills nail attack: Community's shock at 'awful' assault in car park

People in a County Antrim town have expressed shock at an "absolutely awful" attack in which a man's hands were nailed to a fence.

The victim, who is in his 20s, was taken to hospital after being found in a car park in Bushmills in the early hours of Sunday.

He had a nail driven through each hand.

Police described the attack as having levels of "ultraviolence" while an assembly member for the area said it was "barbaric".

Anne McIlroy, from Portballintrae, who was shopping in the town on Tuesday, said "nobody deserves that", adding it was "a very cruel thing to do".

"I was shocked, this is a beautiful village we have and there's no need for this," she added.

Police have said paramilitary involvement is one key line of inquiry.

Two vans, one belonging to the injured man, were found on fire in the car park near Dundarave Park.

Graffiti on nearby public toilets has been linked to the assault and arson.

Earlier on Tuesday, TUV leader Jim Allister said those responsible for the attack intended to "stamp their terror upon the area".

Mr Allister, an assembly member for the area, said it was "barbaric".

"The lawful authorities are the people to deal with reported crimes and now, I trust, that the lawful authorities will hunt down those who inflicted this upon this person and upon the community," he told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"It wasn't just upon him, it was upon the whole community."

Mr Allister said the attack appeared to have "the hallmarks of paramilitarism".

"The people of Bushmills like anywhere else are effectively and very committedly law-abiding, they want to live their lives in peace and they want anyone who wants to disturb that off their backs and why wouldn't they?"

He added that "it is imperative that instead of a dearth of policing on the ground, we have a sufficiency of policing and that I think is what has been missing, particularly in many more rural parts of Northern Ireland and it needs to be attended to".

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has been contacted for comment.

At the scene: Gráinne Connolly, BBC News NI

Dundarave Park, where a man was left nailed to a fence at the weekend, is clearly a residential area, with a play park just around the corner from where the attack happened.

The fence, which is it at the back of a house in the estate, remains unfixed and a vehicle which was burnt out in a nearby car park remains close to the scene.

The nearby car park is filled with camper vans and some coaches which have been carrying tourists on day trips to the likes of the Giant's Causeway and the Bushmills Distillery.

Keiren, from Liverpool, travelled with his family in camper vans to tour around the north coast.

He said they had not heard about the incident until they arrived in the village.

"It's a bit shocking," he said.

When asked if it would have put them off coming to the village he replied: "Potentially, it's happened in the town centre - it's a rare occasion for something like this to happen."

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said the man was left with potentially life-changing but not life-threatening injuries.

Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton told BBC News NI it was a "really shocking incident with levels of, almost, ultraviolence".

Kieran McEvoy, a tour guide from the Republic of Ireland, said none of the tourists he had been escorting around the north coast had heard about the attack.

"Nobody has said anything to me or seems to know about it and I haven't mentioned it," he said.

"I'm trying to paint Ireland in a positive light and this is a dark incident.

"We don't hear about this that much anymore so it didn't occur to me to talk about it."

In the Northern Ireland Assembly on Tuesday, Alliance MLA Sian Mulholland said there was "no justification for this type of behaviour in 2024".

"We are 26 years post Good Friday Agreement, enough is enough and that is what the community is saying."

She said she had contact with parents in the village who are "really worried".

"How do they tell their children about what's on the news and why their town is on the news?

"How do they stop the conversations that will no doubt happen on the playground?"

DUP MLA Paul Frew also told the assembly that it was a "sinister attack, with atrocious violence and brutality, perpetrated on an individual who like every other member of the public has the right to live free from the threat and impact of violence".

"This criminal behaviour must be condemned universally and unequivocally."