A deaf 11-year-old boy was nearly killed after being beaten up by a gang in west Belfast because he was wearing a Glasgow Rangers football shirt, his family claimed tonight.
Terrified Adam Reid, who uses sign language to communicate, ran on to a busy motorway after teenage thugs ripped his shirt off and set it on fire.
His mother, Ms Melanie McCourt, said he could easily have been knocked down by oncoming traffic in his panic during the attack at Broadway roundabout.
She added: "The child was found more or less hysterical on the motorway, which is quite busy, by a girl and fellow who live close by him.
"He was in a terrible state, not knowing what traffic was around him, not hearing a thing around him. He's still quite shaken up."
A police spokeswoman in Belfast confirmed that officers were investigating a report of an alleged assault on a boy in the city.