Harry McCartan, from Poleglass, remained in the Royal Victoria Hospital last night awaiting surgery to remove two blocks of wood that were still attached to his hands by nails. He had been so badly beaten his family could only identify him by a tattoo on his arm. His condition was described as 'ill but stable'.

The 23-year-old was attacked by a gang of men who subjected him to a horrific beating before nailing both his hands to a wooden fence in the loyalist Seymour Hill estate.

Police do not believe at this moment that the attack was sectarian and they have ruled out the possibility that Mr McCartan was abducted from another area of Belfast.

The Fire Service were called to the scene on a country lane near Lilac Walk in Seymour Hill, Dunmurray at around 3.45 yesterday morning. The young man was found lying, unconscious, with nails hammered into both his hands, attached to a wooden style leading to a field on the edge of the estate.

Police say they do not know why Mr McCartan, a Catholic from west Belfast, was in the Seymour Hill area. But they are examining a red Rover car, licence plate number LIW 75OO, which was found just yards from where he was found and which had bloodstains inside. Documents belonging to Mr McCartan were found near the car.

Detective Superintendent Gerry Murray told reporters yesterday that there was no clear motive for the attack although they are following a number of lines of inquiry.

'It appears that a number of young men have taken the law into their own hands,' he said. 'As far as we are concerned this was a barbaric attack on an innocent young man and for whatever reason he has been brutally punished.'