'No retaliation' begs widow of mob attack man

The widow of a Catholic man beaten to death by a sectarian mob has appealed for no retaliation for his murder.

Nine men were being questioned by police today in connection with the killing of Kevin McDaid, 49, in Coleraine, Co Londonderry on Sunday evening, while another man injured in the attack was still fighting for his life.

The cross community youth worker was targeted by a gang of up to 40 men who entered a mainly Catholic housing estate following matches involving Rangers and Celtic.

His wife Evelyn, a Protestant who sustained serious head injuries when she tried to save him, said he would not want to see any more violence.

"He wouldn't want retaliation for it," she said.

"He wouldn't want my sons to get hurt, he wouldn't want this. He was trying to keep the peace, he didn't want all this - the nonsense that's been going on here for years and years. He wanted peace."

She said the mob also beat up a pregnant woman during the attack.

Mr McDaid, a former plasterer, had three sons and a foster son. His widow said the family's life had been shattered.

"My life's over," she said. "A big part of me is missing now. He was my soulmate and now that's finished. I have to try to go on for the wee foster boy and my other three sons. I have to try and go on but I've lost a very big part of me and I can never replace that, never ever."

Mrs McDaid she the attackers claimed they were from the loyalist paramilitary group the UDA as they beat her and her husband.

"He went down to see if his son was all right and he got badly beaten," she told BBC Radio Ulster.

"UDA , they called themselves the UDA. I went across to help him and they beat me while they beat him. And then my neighbour had to step in to save me and she was pregnant and they beat her too and she shouted 'I'm pregnant' and they didn't care."

She added: "It was all to do with religion, and I'm not even a Catholic. I am a Protestant, it's a mixed marriage, but they just seem to hate us so much."

Mrs McDaid also raised questions about the police response to the incident.

"They (the gang) could come into this town and they could do this and where was the police? The police knew this could happen and there was no police. They were fit to come across in cars and walk across them bridges and attack a house down there and they get away with it."

Celtic scarves have been tied on railings and flowers left close to the scene of the savage attack.

Damien Fleming, 46, remains in hospital with serious injuries after being assaulted in nearby Pates Lane during the disturbances.

The nine suspects were arrested in the Coleraine area yesterday.