Celtic supporter survives serious assault

A 21-year-old North Belfast man had his skull fractured in a
sectarian attack yesterday morning.

Kevin Milligan of Ardoyne was hit repeatedly over the head
with what he believes was either a wheel brace or a hammer
during the attack by two men in the early hours of the
morning.

Mr Milligan was walking home from a friend's house after
watching the Rangers vs Celtic soccer match and was walking
home when the attack occurred.

He was walking home along the Cliftonville Road when a car
pulled up. Two men got out of the vehicle and hit him twice
over the head with a heavy implement.

He had been wearing a Celtic jersey and his assailants called
him a "scumbag" as they beat him, his sister revealed.

"When they went for him he sort of jumped back but one of them
hit him. When he went down they kept hitting him over the
head, maybe two or three times," she said.

"Mum is always saying to him, 'don't walk anywhere, things
like this can happen.' But you never expect it to happen," she
said.

But for the calls from women to get in the car to stop the
attack, she believes her brother would have been killed.

An ambulance later took him to the Mater hospital, where he
received five stitches to the head.

According to his sister, when Mr Milligan was asked his name
and date of birth by doctors early yesterday morning, he was
unable to answer.

Yesterday, his condition was described as stable and doctors
were keeping him under observation.

* In other news, a family from Antrim town is preparing to
move out of their home following a sectarian attack.

The family noticed masked men outside their home just before
midnight. A number of windows were smashed and their car was
badly damaged.