Belfast man in hospital after 'crucifixion'

A man was "crucified" by being nailed to wooden posts in a savage paramilitary-style punishment beating near Belfast yesterday.

Harry McCartan, 23, was subjected to a vicious beating before being nailed to a wooden stile a few miles from his home. After firefighters had cut him free, he was rushed to hospital in a semi-conscious state, his hands still impaled on the fencing.

Mr McCartan's injuries were so severe that his father could only identify him by a tattoo on his arm.

Security sources described the attack as horrific, even by the standards of punishment beatings in Northern Ireland.

As surgeons at Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital fought to save Mr McCartan's hands, police revealed that he had been dragged into a field and beaten repeatedly before being taken down a lane and nailed to the stile.

The victim's father, Henry, last night described the horror of seeing his son after the ordeal. "He was covered in muck and he was bleeding from his eyes and bleeding from his ears," he said. "His face was unrecognisable."

A hospital spokesman said that Mr McCartan was in an ill but stable condition.

The ferocious beating has been linked to paramilitary vigilantes and alleged car crime in the area. Superintendent Gerry Murray said: "I have never come across anything so barbaric."