A Protestant teenager has died after a pipe-bomb he was handling exploded in his face in Coleraine, Co Derry. Local people said they believed the incident was linked to the UDA, which has been responsible for sectarian attacks on Catholic homes in the town.
Mr William Moore Campbell (19) died in an alley just yards from his home at Winston Way in the Heights area at around 11.30p.m. on Thursday.
"At this moment in time it would appear that he was working on the device and it exploded in his face," a police source said.
It is the first death of the New Year related to the Troubles. With further loyalist attacks in north Belfast and Larne, Co Antrim, there are growing fears that the UDA is stepping up its campaign against Catholics.
Mr Campbell's family declined to talk to the media yesterday as dozens of friends and relatives arrived at the house to offer their condolences. Flowers were laid near the spot where he died.
The victim's father heard the explosion and ran to the alley. He telephoned an ambulance but paramedics were unable to save his son's life.
Mr Campbell died at the back of an unoccupied house. Police believe loyalist paramilitaries might have been using the building to store explosives. It is unclear whether the pipe bomb was being moved from the empty house or taken there for storage.
The Heights area is predominantly Protestant but some Catholics live in the district.
Nationalist politicians said there had been more than 100 attacks on Catholic families in Coleraine over the past two years.
An intensification of loyalist violence last year led to the return of British army patrols to the town.
Chief Insp Nigel Kyle said it was too early to reach a conclusion on the circumstances of Mr Campbell's death but he condemned those who sent young people to commit violent acts.
"Too often in the past we have seen young people suffer the consequences of carrying out the actions of other sinister people within the community," he said.
The SDLP Mayor of Coleraine, Mr John Dallat, said he had long feared a death would occur due to the growing number of pipe-bomb attacks by loyalists in the town.
"With so many pipe-bomb and blast-bomb attacks in Coleraine, it was inevitable that eventually somebody would lose their life, whether that was the perpetrator or the victim of this violence.
"The UDA have never been on ceasefire in this area. The UDA has been successful in attracting new recruits of a young and impressionable age who are sent out to do their dirty work.
"The vast majority of Coleraine people from both communities live in peace and harmony and just want to be left alone. The young person who died should have had a long life ahead of him. Unfortunately, he is now dead as a direct result of the influence of the god-fathers of hate."
Local DUP MP Mr Gregory Campbell described the teenager's death as tragic. "If it was part of a loyalist campaign of pipe-bombings then I hope this will now spell an end of this campaign."
Mr Campbell claimed loyalist youths had seen republicans making gains from the use of violence. "In Northern Ireland, we have to try and move towards a process where violence is not seen to reap rewards for the perpetrators."
The North's Security Minister, Ms Jane Kennedy, described the death as "another tragic consequence of hatred and division".
George Jackson adds: The victim, who lived at home with his family, had no convictions for paramilitary activity.
In a linked application in Belfast's High Court yesterday, the boyfriend of Mr Campbell's pregnant sister failed in his attempt to be released on compassionate bail to be with his girlfriend.
Mr John Gamble, (25), of Glebe Avenue, Coleraine, is one of four men in custody on firearms charges after the police discovered two loaded guns, a quantity of ammunition and balaclavas in a car stopped in Coleraine's Ballycastle Road on November 21st.
Winston Way residents said the Campbell family were highly respected in the area.