There was another so-called punishment beating in Northern Ireland last night. A group of masked men forced their way into a house on Glynn Walk in Carrickfergus at 11.40 p.m. and beat a 17-year-old youth with baseball bats and a hammer.
In other incidents an 18year-old woman and a 50-yearold man were treated for the injuries they sustained in separate beatings at the weekend in the Belfast area.
The 18-year-old woman suffered cuts and bruises to her arms, legs and head when she was attacked around 1 a.m. yesterday with a baseball bat by masked men who broke into a house at Craigmore Way in the loyalist Donegall Pass area of Belfast.
At 11 p.m. on Saturday the 50-year-old man was beaten with a baseball bat and sticks when masked men forced their way into a flat at Carntall Rise, New Mossley, Newtownabbey, another loyalist area.
Northern Secretary Dr Mowlam said yesterday that if there were clear evidence of paramilitary involvement in such attacks she would "take that into account" when considering the issue of the early release of prisoners.
"Many of the beatings, not all, are carried out by people who are not on ceasefire and who don't want to see the process work."