Thread by @SEFFLisnaskea

SEFF remembers David Templeton, 43, Presbyterian minister "without charge", from Fairview Rd, Newtownabbey, believed to have been attacked & seriously injured in a "punishment beating" by UVF terrorists leading to his death 6 wks later, 24/3/97

David was the 2nd Protestant ...

..Minister murdered in the ‘Troubles’. 16 yrs earlier Rev Robert Bradford, Methodist was murdered by PIRA

David was NI's longest surviving kidney transplant patient, donated by his mother in '76

In '95, he resigned as minister of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Greyabbey & ..

..moved to Newtownabbey after being 'outed' as gay by Sunday Life.

At 21:00 on 7/Feb, a gp of masked men, thought to be UVF, broke into his home with nail-studded wooden clubs. He was left with severe injuries, inc fractured skull & 2 broken legs. When he left hospital, he ...

..stayed with a friend in S Belfast & seemed to be recovering. His death was the result of a pulmonary embolism due to thrombosis of his calf veins caused by immobilisation from the broken legs

David was born in Larne & worked as a civil servant before graduation ...

..from the open University & Ulster Poly. He was awarded a MDiv in '84 by Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey. He then gained a MT from QUB & was ordained & worked in N Belfast & then transferred to Greyabbey. He was a regular broadcaster on BBC & Downtown Radio. ..

..This brutal attack &, ultimately, murder appear to have been motivated by David's sexual orientation.

The UVF (For God & Ulster) who carried out the act certainly weren’t doing so with God’s authority or for Ulster

Our thoughts are with innocents impacted by David's murder