Assault victim 'beaten 60 times'

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A man who is critically ill after an attack in his west Belfast home may have been beaten as many as 60 times, the BBC has learned.

Frank McGreevy, 51, a former republican prisoner, is on a life support machine.

He was attacked in Ross Street shortly after 1830 GMT on Saturday and found by his 15-year-old son.

Police are questioning a 20-year-old man. It is not clear if Mr McGreevy was attacked after confronting young people about anti-social behaviour.

The PSNI have said that the man who is being questioned handed himself in to Grosvenor Road police station.

Police have appealed for anyone who was part of a group outside Mr McGreevy's flat at about 1830 GMT to contact them.

"Anyone who was part of this group or who knows the identity of any of those present is asked to come forward to police," said a spokesperson.

Sinn Fein councillor Tom Hartley said the victim was well-known in the area and the attack had had a big impact.

He said Mr McGreevy's family were "coping with it, but of course they are very shocked".

Sinn Fein and SDLP politicians met senior officers at Grosvenor Road police station on Monday and afterwards called for a broad community-based approach to tackling the problems in the area.

A neighbour of Mr McGreevy's, Martin Molloy, said the assault showed how bad the area had become recently.

"People are afraid to go out to the shops now at night," he said.

"At four o' clock people are locked up in their houses, anybody could have been targeted."