Northern Ireland shooting victim 'denied travel to Scotland for treatment'

A man shot in Northern Ireland has been denied permission on anti-terrorism grounds to travel to Scotland for surgery, his solicitor has said.

Sean O'Reilly, 49, was hit twice after two masked men fired shots through the window of his parked taxi in the Bell Steel Manor area of Dunmurry, a suburb just outside of Belfast, on Sunday.

An air ambulance was ready to take him to Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital for surgery, but he was denied travel.

Hardline republican political grouping the Republican Network for Unity has said Mr O'Reilly is one of its members.

His lawyer Peter Corrigan, of Phoenix Law, branded the decision "absolutely disgraceful".

The solicitor said his client was admitted to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast on Sunday with non-life-threatening injuries.

The following day he underwent surgery for a bullet which had lodged in his collarbone.

A subsequent scan showed he had also suffered a severed nerve in his left bicep and arrangements were made for specialist surgery in Scotland.

The lawyer said an air ambulance was on stand-by to take Mr O'Reilly to Glasgow on Wednesday evening ahead of surgery on Thursday.

He said: "The surgeon has said that he has to be there before Saturday or the nerves will die.

"The air ambulance was ready but then he was told that the authorities have refused to take them under anti-terrorism legislation.

"We are going to challenge this decision. We think it's unlawful, we think it's absolutely disgraceful, where someone's been the victim of an attack, a gun attack, that he's going to be treated in this way.

"It's a denial of our client's basic rights to surgery.

"We're shocked by the fact that the authorities would deny someone vital surgery in circumstances where they've been a victim of a gun attack."

The Home Office and Scottish government were contacted for comment.

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Amid concerns of a republican feud in west Belfast, PSNI Detective Chief Inspector Gina Quinn earlier this week cautioned against retaliation for the shooting of Mr O'Reilly, insisting "more violence is not the answer".

Asked if dissident republicans were involved in the attack, Ms Quinn told reporters that detectives were keeping all lines of inquiry open.

Ms Quinn said one of the two suspects was described as wearing dark clothing while the other was described as wearing a yellow coat.

She called the shooting a "disturbing incident".

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