Tarnations!

A man was subjected to a so-called 'tarring and feathering' attack in south Belfast last weekend.

It is thought the attack was carried out by two men wearing balaclavas as a crowd including women and children looked on. The victim was made to wear a placard reading 'I'm a drug dealing scum bag'.

Colin Halliday of the UPRG, the political wing of the UDA, quoted in the BBC article, described the incident as a community reaction. "It was not a UDA punishment attack," he said. "There was a lot of anger within the community as nobody wants a drug dealer in their midst. There were people baying for blood but that's not the way things are done now."

Northern Ireland's Social Development Margaret Ritchie said that this type of incident had "no place in a civilized society". Despite denials from the UPRG, most people will find it very hard to believe that the UDA was not involved.

Although the police was contacted regarding the incident, by the time officers arrived in the loyalist estate, neither the victim or his attackers could be found.