Police chiefs in Northern Ireland tonight rejected claims that a loyalist murder victim had been subjected to a botched punishment attack.
As detectives prepared to go back to the flat in Co Antrim where John Allen, (31), was gunned down, officers insisted the gunmen meant to kill him.
Assistant chief constable Duncan McCausland said: "There is a piece of speculation going about that this was the result of a so-called paramilitary punishment shooting gone wrong.
"It's our considered opinion, based on analysis of the scene, that Mr Allen was murdered." The outlawed Ulster Volunteer Force terrorist group has been blamed for shooting Mr Allen at the home of his brother in Ballyclare last Saturday.
He was shot several times in the legs and head and died later. Mr Allen was not thought to have had any paramilitary connections, but may have been targeted following a dispute with a local terror boss.
Mr McCausland confirmed police were investigating the paramilitaries but refused to say whether rogue members carried out the attack.
"There are a number of active lines of inquiry, and one involves loyalist paramilitaries," he said. "I have no information to say this was sanctioned or not, but nobody has the right to take anybody's life."
PA