THE status of the UVF's ceasefire is again being questioned after the attempted murder of a 30-year old man in Bangor.
James 'hammy' Hamilton was shot three times in the chest in the latest attempt by loyalist paramilitaries on his life.
A second man, from Craigavon, was shot in the leg. Hamilton was previously questioned by police about a gun attack on leading east Belfast loyalist Stephen Matthews in 2012 but was released without charge.
The following month his parents' house in east Belfast was targeted in a bomb blast. Hamilton, who was upstairs at the time, escaped injury and has since moved home several times under death threat from the UVF. He was released from prison within the past month having served a sentence for offences including driving a stolen BMW and possession of class A drugs.
Sources say that Hamilton was lured to the Whitehill estate in Bangor in the early hours of Monday under false pretences.
It comes after the east Belfast UVF attempted to murder care worker Jemma McGrath in September last year, shooting her five times.
The latest attack is likely to spark renewed calls to review the group's ceasefire.
Alliance Party assembly member Stephen Farry said last night: "I would expect the police to follow every lead and every angle including the possibility of paramilitary involvement."
* SCENE: Police at the scene of an attempted murder in the Whitehill estate in Bangor, Co Down, yesterday. The victim who was shot three times in the chest was James Hamilton who had previously been questioned by police about a gun attack on leading east Belfast loyalist Stephen Matthews, inset, in 2012 MAIN PICTURE: Hugh Russell