Bradley pledge after bar assault

Denis Bradley said attack will not force him off Policing Board

The vice chairman of the Policing Board has said he will not resign after being attacked in a pub in Londonderry nearly four weeks ago.

Denis Bradley suffered serious head injuries when a masked man hit him with a baseball bat in the Brandywell area.

He had previously decided to resign from the board when it is reconstituted next April, but said the assault almost made him reconsider that decision.

Dissident republicans were blamed for the attack.

It was the latest in a series of attacks on the former priest, including a petrol bomb attack on his home and death threats.

"It was the only thing that came close to making me reconsider my decision not to go back onto policing in April," Mr Bradley said.

"It came very close to driving me in the opposite direction.

Mr Bradley still has stitches in head and mouth wounds

"The fact that the board was rolled over and is now open to April, there's a number of months left to actually begin to do whatever work I think is left in me."

Mr Bradley also said that other people had suffered worse attacks and received less attention.

He said he still felt free to go anywhere in Derry.

Last week, Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain announced that the make-up of the Policing Board would change next April to reflect recent election results.