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'IRA' claim responsibility for shooting

Rasharkin man Michael Patton
Rasharkin man Michael Patton Rasharkin man Michael Patton

A group calling itself the 'IRA' has claimed responsibility for a shooting in Co Antrim.

Michael Patton escaped serious injury when shots were fired into his Rasharkin home last month.

The group, which is sometimes referred to as the ‘New IRA’, said that it tried to kill the 36-year-old when two shots were fired through the window of his bungalow at Moneyleck Road on January 30.

He was treated in hospital for minor injuries and later released.

Mr Patton, who is a wheelchair user, is a relative of three children, Richard (11), Mark (10) and nine-year-old Jason Quinn killed during a UVF firebomb attack on their home in Ballymoney in 1998.

There was widespread political condemnation of the attack on Mr Patton.