A gang of loyalist vigilantes who savagely beat and then nailed a man to a fence have been branded "spineless, sick animals".

Deputy leader of the Alliance Party Eileen Bell said the crucifixion attack on 23-year-old Harry McCartan in Dunmurry on the outskirts of south Belfast was "an act of pure evil".

The man, from the nationalist Poleglass area in west Belfast, was found on Saturday morning in the staunchly loyalist estate of Seymour Hill with his legs broken and his hands impaled to a wooden stile by six-inch nails.

His father Henry said when his son was found, he was unrecognisable. Bleeding from his eyes and ears, he had to be identified from a tattoo on his arm. When cut free of the fence, he was brought semiconscious to the Royal Victoria hospital with his hands still pinned to two blocks of wood.

While police said they had initially ruled out a sectarian motive and believed vigilantes carried out the "barbaric and particularly vicious" attack, loyalist paramilitary group the UDA were being blamed for the attack.

On Sunday the young father-of-one underwent an operation lasting almost five hours to remove the nails from his hands and is said to be in a stable condition.

Mrs Bell said: "Those behind this are barbaric cowards, and I would ask the community to assist the police in any way possible, before this happens again.

"No-one has the right to take the law into their own hands like this, no matter what someone has done in the past."

Harry McCartan had recently been released from prison after serving a 15 months jail term for joyriding offences.

Detectives are examining a BMW car containing two bloodstained baseball bats, which was stolen in the Dunmurry area early on Saturday morning.

The vehicle was later found near the Kennedy Centre in Andersonstown. Police have also examined a red Rover car found near the scene of the attack.

(AMcE)