Catholic shot by loyalist gunman

A Catholic man was shot dead by a loyalist gunman in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast, Northern Ireland, yesterday.

The attack took place in the afternoon as the victim, named locally as Martin Bradley, 23, was visiting his aunt on the Crumlin Road, one of the city's most dangerous areas. A lone gunman wearing a mask entered the house through the front door and opened fire on the man in the kitchen.

Mr Bradley was hit several times and died at the scene. He was the 24th person to die violently in Northern Ireland this year.

Sinn Fein described the shooting as a brutal sectarian killing and said that Mr Bradley had no republican connections. Two other members of the dead man's family have previously been killed in troubles-related incidents.