Police investigating the brutal assault of a man who had his hands nailed to a fence have searched five properties in the Seymour Hill estate and seized various items for forensic examination.

A police spokesman confirmed that four houses and a derelict flat were searched by police officers on Monday night as part of the ongoing investigation into the brutal and vicious attack at the weekend on 23-year-old Catholic Harry McCartan.

Clothing, bats, knives, a computer and papers were recovered. No arrests were made.

In the early hours of Saturday morning Mr McCartan was savagely beaten beyond all recognition with nail studded bats and then nailed to a fence in the staunchly loyalist estate of Seymour Hill in Dunmurry.

The attack has been blamed on the Ulster Defence Association, who, according to reports had only recently issued a warning to joy riders in the area.

Mr McCartan had just completed a 15-month sentence for car crime offences, and police have said they believe the attack was a vigilante-style assault.

Speaking to the BBC a spokeswoman for the Seymour Hill area's residents' association said it did not condone what had happened.

"But feelings have been running high since a large spate of vehicle crime in our area," she said.

"Hopefully the incident has brought more attention for more policing to prevent any further car crime."

(AMcE)