Police fury over Cumnock attack

Oct 17 2008

CUMNOCK police spent hundreds of hours painstakingly analysing CCTV footage of the horror attack.

They were determined to find out who the boys responsible were and bring them to justice.

But it didn’t happen overnight.

Officers took more than four months to identify as many of the youngsters as they could.

And when they did, they drafted in a specialist gang unit to help them swoop on the yobs’ homes in the early hours of the morning.

The teenagers were taken into custody after they were awoken by officers with warrants for their arrest on April 8 this year.

The outcome of the police investigation serves as a warning to would-be hooligans.

The victims’ physical wounds were long gone before the investigation reached a climax.

But the police never gave up. Inspector Jim Drennan was in charge of the operation.

At the time of the dawn raids, he spoke of his outrage at the level of violence used during the attack.

He said: “I’ve seen the footage about 20 times now and I get angrier every time I see it.

“It’s not something you become blasé about. I feel my blood pressure going up when I watch it.

“It reminds me of a wildlife programme when you see the pack of hyenas circling the injured wildebeest.”