Reinvestigation of Waterside attack

Civil servant, Paul McCauley was beaten by by a mob at a barbeque in the Chapel Road district around four years ago.

Only one of the gang has ever been brought to justice with regard to the attack. 19-year-old Daryl Proctor, from the Fountain estate is currently serving 12 years in relation to the beating. He was 15-years-old at the time of the attack.

The attack was also the subject of a BBC Spotlight investigation last year.

On July 16, 2006, Mr McCauley was attending a farewell party for a friend at Chapel Road. He was standing at a bonfire with two other friends, Mark Lynch and Gavin Mullin when they were attacked by a gang.

They were knocked to the ground and repeatedly kicked and stamped on. Part of Paul's skull was crushed when his head was stamped upon. He suffered permanent brain damage and is expected to remain in a vegetative state for the remainder of his life. Medical experts say his life expectancy is between 10 and 15 years.

Now, Mr McCauley's father, Jim, says he wants to see his son's attackers brought to justice before the fourth anniversary of the attack.

Paul McCauley, from Prehen, has required round-the-clock care since the attack. The case was raised last week at the Policing Board by Londonderry MLA, Martina Anderson.

Jim McCauley said: "We asked to get the case reviewed because we have a situation where no one has been charged with the attempted murder of Paul and only one person has been convicted in relation to it.

Whilst he praised the police operation to date he said that more resources are required.

"We appreciate the substantial input from the police investigating team but we feel more resources would have helped. We want to see the current team augmented by appropriate resources and back-up," he said.