Craigavon top of violence list

Craigavon had 420 incidents of late night violence over the past year, third only to Belfast and Derry in Northern Ireland.

The figures come two weeks after three men were sentenced for a brutal attack on James Lewis who died this week.

Joseph Thomas Carragher (29), Parkmore, Craigavon, Stephen Carragher (21), Parkmore, and Dean Sergeant (22), Upper Ramone Park, Portadown had pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm with intent on December 22, 2011.

Mr Lewis suffered horrific injuries in the attack at Lake Road.

He was buried on Wednesday (December 4) .

It is not known if his death is related to the injuries he suffered during the brutal Chrismas attack.

There have been a litany of violent attacks in both Lurgan, Craigavon and Portadown over the past year some involving weapons such as knives.

Campaigners have called for more to be done to curb high levels of anti-social behaviour and other serious offences at the weekends.

Suzanne Costello, chief executive of Alcohol Action Ireland, said alcohol-related attacks spike at weekends.

“Drinking to get drunk has become commonplace on nights out and as these figures show, the harm caused by this often extends beyond the health of the person drinking to those around them.”