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Schoolgirl rapist shot in attack | Schoolgirl rapist shot in attack |
(about 4 hours later) | |
A man shot in both legs in a paramilitary-style attack in Londonderry was awaiting sentencing for raping a 15-year-old schoolgirl. | |
Keith Burnside, 37, was shot in his Rosemount Gardens home by two masked men in front of his girlfriend and two children at about 2315 BST on Monday. | |
Burnside was convicted in March of raping a girl in his car at Sandbank Cottages in 2000. | |
He is being treated in hospital for his injuries. | |
SDLP Councillor Mark H. Durkan said he had spoken to Keith Burnside's girlfriend who witnessed the attack. | |
"She's in an awful state of shock, it was an extremely traumatic experience for everyone involved," he said. | |
"There were two young children in the house, a 12-week-old baby and a six-year-old who saw everything." | |
Councillor Durkan said he did not discuss the motive for the shooting. | |
"This attack must be condemned regardless of what it was in connection with," he added. | |
"We cannot have this law of the jungle where people are taking the law into their own hands." | |
Burnside was due to be sentenced for the rape shortly. | |
During the trial the court heard that his victim blocked the attack out of her mind for seven years before reporting it, after the accused smirked at her outside a nightclub. | |
A defence application was due to be heard in Londonderry Crown Court on Tuesday but was adjourned when the court was told of the attack. | |
Community worker Tommy McCourt said such incidents made people fearful of a return to violence. "It takes you back to the bad old days," he said. | Community worker Tommy McCourt said such incidents made people fearful of a return to violence. "It takes you back to the bad old days," he said. |
"We believed that those days had passed and nobody wants to see this kind of thing happening again." | "We believed that those days had passed and nobody wants to see this kind of thing happening again." |
SDLP MLA Pat Ramsey also condemned the attack. "The people who carried out this shooting have no support from the local community and no place in a civilised society," he said. | SDLP MLA Pat Ramsey also condemned the attack. "The people who carried out this shooting have no support from the local community and no place in a civilised society," he said. |
The police said that those responsible were of slim build and wore tracksuits, baseball caps, and scarves over their faces. | The police said that those responsible were of slim build and wore tracksuits, baseball caps, and scarves over their faces. |
The first man was 5ft 10ins and the second 6ft 2ins. | The first man was 5ft 10ins and the second 6ft 2ins. |
They want anyone who was in the area at the time and may have seen the men to contact them. | They want anyone who was in the area at the time and may have seen the men to contact them. |
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