Sharon O'Neill, Irish News, 22.11.2003
POLICE were last night hunting the killers of a 21-year-old man – the first Catholic to be killed by loyalists in over a year.
James McMahon was clinging onto life when he was taken to hospital after suffering a vicious beating at the hands of a three-strong masked gang, but sadly yesterday afternoon (Fri) lost his battle.
The young man was targeted by his faceless attackers wielding baseball bats on Thursday night in Hancock Street, Lisburn, not far from his home. His two friends managed to escape and raise the alarm but when the emergency services arrived, the unrepairable damage had already been inflicted.
Last night his mother Deirdre, who has four other children, was too upset to talk to reporters.
It is the second killing by loyalists in less than two weeks and comes days after a murder bid on a Catholic man on the outskirts of north Belfast claimed by the Loyalist Action Force. On November 8 welder John Allen died after being shot by the UVF at his brother's flat in Ballyclare.
Mr McMahon, who had just started a new job, is the first Catholic to be killed by loyalists in over a year.
Teenager Gerard Lawlor was shot dead by the LVF in July last year as he walked home from a night out at a north Belfast pub.
Detectives have yet to establish a motive for Mr McMahan's murder but have not ruled out sectarianism. But the officer heading the murder probe said it bore all the hallmarks of a paramilitary-style assault.
Last November the UDA brutally beat and nailed Catholic Harry McCartan to a fence in an estate in the neighbouring Dunmurry area.
Detective Superintendent Paul Hamlin said Mr McMahon's killing appeared to be a "motiveless attack''.
"This is a pleasant area of Lisburn and for this to happen to a young man in the prime of his life, who would appear to have been doing nothing wrong, to be viciously assaulted in this way, is a disgrace,'' he said.
Father Sean Rogan, who was with the victim's mother when her son died, said: "He was cut down in the prime of his life by faceless, cruel, callous people.
"Human life is sacred because everyone is made in the image and likeness of God but unfortunately in the society in which we live human disrespect for the sacredness of human life is so prevalent.
"It's time to speak out in every way and to point up the sacredness of human life from the womb to the tomb.''
Security Minister Jane Kennedy condemned the murder as "an act of savagery''.
No-one from the UPRG, which provides political analysis to the UDA, was able to be contacted for comment.