Belfast man batoned in front of children

A 20-year-old man was beaten by five or six men as he was putting his girlfriend’s child to bed in a Belfast flat last night.

The men with batons broke into the flat in Glasvey Park on the Twinbrook estate at around 9.30 and attacked the man. He is left with bad bruising to his arms, legs and upper body.

The man was putting a six-year-old child to bed at the time and there was another six-year-old child and a four-month-old baby also in the flat. The children were unharmed.

In Co Down three men were hurt in a paramilitary-style attack carried out by men wielding sledgehammers and possibly a handgun. One man suffered a broken shoulder blade and bruising to his ribs in the assault at a house on Colmcille Road, Downpatrick. Another victim was treated for a hand injury and the third for injuries to his leg. No shots were fired in the attack which was reported to police at 12.40 a.m.