Ballymoney: Masked men beat 16-year-old with metal bars

The assault happened in the Hamilton Park area of Ballymoney on Monday evening, the police say

A 16-year-old boy has been taken to hospital after he was beaten with metal bars by two masked men in Ballymoney.

The police received a report of the assault in Hamilton Park in the County Antrim town at 22:25 BST on Monday.

The boy attended hospital for treatment to head, leg and arm injuries. Alliance councillor Lee Kane described the incident as an act of child abuse.

"I am horrified to hear about this attack on a 16-year-old child in Ballymoney," he told BBC News NI.

"There is no place in our society for such acts of unjustified and unjustifiable violence."

'I heard a commotion outside'

A neighbour in Hamilton Park, who spoke to BBC News NI on the condition of anonymity, said she heard a disturbance on Monday night.

"I had heard a commotion outside but I thought it was young people playing football in the square," she said.

"It kept going but I didn't want to go near the windows, so I didn't see anything."

The neighbour said the street was quiet and most of the residents had grown-up children. No teenagers live in that particular street, the woman said.

The noise continued for 15 minutes before the PSNI attended the scene, she said.

The police have appealed for anyone who may have witnessed the assault, or has any information about the incident to come forward.