Kneecapping

Kneecapping is a form of malicious wounding, often as criminal punishment or torture, in which the victim is injured in the knee, often using a firearm or power drill to damage the knee joint and kneecap.[1][2]

Contents

Use

This practice was common among paramilitaries in Italy and Northern Ireland and has been reported from Gaza.[3] Contrary to popular belief, the patella (knee cap) is usually not injured in these incidents; rather damage to soft tissues that include nerves and arteries is the primary target.[4][5]

See also

References

  1. ^ The Shankill butchers: the real story of cold-blooded mass murder By Martin Dillon. London: Hutchinson 1989.
  2. ^ Kneecapping Segen's Medical Dictionary. Retrieved: 2011-06-20.
  3. ^ Erlanger, Steven (15 July 2007). "A Life of Unrest". The Times Magazine. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/magazine/15HAMAS-t.html. Retrieved 23 February 2010. 
  4. ^ "Nixon JR. "Knee-capping". Low velocity gunshot wounds of the knee: a review of eighty-six such injuries treated at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. Dissertation for the Degree MCh(Orth), University of Liverpool, 1975." (PDF). http://www.jbjs.org.uk/cgi/reprint/71-B/5/739.pdf. Retrieved 2010-02-23. 
  5. ^ "Kneecapping". Aliciapatterson.org. 1972-07-17. http://www.aliciapatterson.org/APF0305/Conroy/Conroy.html. Retrieved 2010-02-23. 

External links