Beating victim 'had injuries to every part of body'
THE savagery of the attack by former Provisional IRA members on murdered truck driver Paul Quinn was revealed last night.
The 21-year-old victim died in hospital two hours after he had been subjected to a barrage of blows from iron bars and cudgels by a gang of up to 10 men.
Mr Quinn's internal injuries included damage to his brain and lungs, while a catalogue of external wounds included a broken arm and broken leg. A post-mortem examination of his body by the Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis concluded that he died from blunt force trauma, as a result of injuries inflicted to almost every part of his body.
Initially, ambulance crew who had been called to the scene of the beating at a shed on a farm near the Co Monaghan village of Oram on Saturday thought his injuries were not life-threatening as he was lucid when found.
But his condition deteriorated rapidly and he died two hours after being taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.
Gardai believe Mr Quinn was targeted by the gang of ex-IRA thugs because he refused to "show respect" to a republican warlord in south Armagh.
The victim had earlier clashed with a republican and the son of another republican and was then warned by senior Provisional figures in the area to move out.
Mr Quinn decided to ignore the warnings and on Saturday he was lured to the shed by two friends, who were coerced into calling him, and then brutally set upon by the gang.
He was known to have associated with a group of young fuel smugglers along the Border who did not recognise the control exerted in the area by the former IRA men.
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams and local Dail deputy Caoimhghin O Caolain have both insisted that no member of the republican movement was involved in the attack.
However, all of the evidence gathered so far by the Gardai and the PSNI indicates that former Provisionals were responsible, although there is no suggestion the attack was sanctioned by the IRA leadership.
Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Armagh and Cardinal-elect Sean Brady described the murder of Mr Quinn as a barbaric deed that was evil and inexcusable.
"Those with information have a duty before God to pass it on to the gardai or PSNI. The tyranny of violence and intimidation must be defeated," he said.
- Tom Brady Security Editor
