SAVAGE | 

Footballer almost loses nose and arm in brutal machete attack as missing man sought

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Police have issued an appeal for a missing man in the wake of a vicious machete attack which left two innocent brothers with horrific injuries.

Paul Hamilton (32) has not been seen for a number of days as a double stabbing in Dervock, Co Antrim, last weekend.

Now cops are bracing themselves for more violence as tensions threaten to rip the village apart.

David and Sammy McConachie suffered serious slash and stab wounds in an attack outside a pub in the village.

The Sunday World can reveal the incident threatens to reignite a feud that goes back more than a decade when Hamilton almost lost an arm after being mauled by dogs.

Talented footballer Sammy McConachie himself almost lost an arm and his nose was also sliced open in the attack which took place outside a Chinese restaurant and a pub on the Carncullagh Road area.

His brother Davie ‘Curly’ McConachie was also injured in the same incident in Dervock at around 9.45pm last Sunday.

Both McConachie brothers were pulled back inside the pub for their own safety.

What appeared to start off as a bit of loyalist banter quickly descended into extreme violence when a man pulled out a machete and stabbed Davie in the back.

And when Sammy came to his brother’s aid, he too was sliced on the shoulder and face.

Eyewitnesses say the pavement outside the North Irish Horse pub was covered in large pools of blood before the PSNI arrived.

And the brothers were rushed by ambulance to hospital where they received emergency treatment.

There are now fears the unprovoked attack on the two innocent McConachie brothers will trigger a resurgence of a loyalist feud in the village.

When an ambulance arrived last weekend to take the injured men to hospital, a group of loyalists gathered across the road to jeer at the emergency services.

One local told us: “Things in this village are getting out of hand. The insults hurled at the injured men as they were being taken to hospital were disgusting.

“The McConachie brothers have never had anything to do with paramilitaries. They are local Dervock lads born and bred in the village.

“It appears that what started off as a bit of fun quickly descended and it ended with the McConachie brothers being brutally stabbed and being rushed to hospital for emergency treatment.”

And he added: “Where will it end up?”

A veteran loyalist who spoke to the Sunday World this week, said current problems in Dervock village came about as a result of the influence of an individual who appears intent on causing a division within the local loyalist community.

Our source said this man fostered links with a loyalist band from Tyrone which has a reputation for violence and it appears he wants local loyalists to follow their example.

“He encourages young people and loyalist bandsmen to carry knives at all times.

“And as we witnessed last Sunday night in Dervock, when people carry knives, it’s only a matter of time before they use them,” our source said.

Sunday World investigations revealed tensions in Dervock first emerged three years ago when a local loyalist – aligned to the alleged former West Belfast UDA leader Jim Spence – gained a position of influence.

A source said of the events three years ago which raised tensions in the village: “This was a drugs-selling strategy and nothing else. It is about using loyalists to sell drugs for the benefit of people who don’t even live in the village.”

A police statement issued in the wake of Sunday night’s attack appealed for witnesses to come forward.

Detective Sergeant Colhoun said: “At approximately 9.50pm, we received a report that two men had been stabbed during an altercation outside a bar in the Carncullagh Road area of the town.

“Both men were taken to hospital where they are receiving treatment for their injuries. The suspect made off from the scene and I’m appealing to anyone who may have CCTV, dash-cam or any other footage that could assist with enquiries to come forward or contact detectives on 101 quoting reference 1827 of 30/07/23.”

On Thursday evening, heavily armed police officers carrying riot shields raided a number of properties in the Dervock area in connection with Sunday night’s attack.

It is believed they were looking for an individual and weapons. But shortly before the police raid a man with close links to the alleged attacker was seen leaving the village in a car.

Following Sunday night’s attack in Dervock, the Loyalist Voice Ballymoney Facebook page issued a lengthy statement condemning the violence and the tendency among young loyalists in the area to carry knives.

It called on the community to stand up and oppose criminal elements which appear to have gained a foothold within loyalism in north Antrim.

The loyalist statement read: “Two innocent young men who were born and raised in the village were ambushed and stabbed multiple times in a savage attack.”

It also accused a member of a local loyalist band as being linked to Sunday night’s violence.

On Monday the Dervock Young Defenders band issued a public response on its Facebook page stating it had dismissed a band member. But the statement also accused individuals of exploiting the situation in favour of their own sectional interests.

A further statement issued by the Loyalist Voice Ballymoney accused the Dervock Young Defenders band of hypocrisy.

And in another statement issued by the group it also criticised the police for what it claimed was the PSNI’s slow response to the violence on Sunday evening.