ANOTHER escalation of anti-social behaviour on the Stewartstown Road has seen cars and a bus targeted with stones.
A Glider making its way towards McKinstry Road was attacked causing damage to a window. It was reported that a number of young people were in the area and were seen throwing items at the bus, police confirmed.
Police say they received a report of criminal damage caused to a bus in the Stewartstown Road area before 10.45pm on Friday.
Neighbourhood Sergeant Irwin said: “It was reported that a number of young people were in the area at the time and were seen throwing items at the bus.
“Officers attended the area and conducted patrols, however no young people were detected to be present.
“Our enquiries are continuing, and we are appealing to anyone who may have any information which could assist us to contact 101, and quote reference number 2291 28/10/22.”
A Translink spokesperson confirmed that no injuries were received in the incident.
“Stones were thrown at a Glider heading towards McKinstry Road in the Colin area on Friday night, causing damage to a window.
“No injuries were reported although services were scaled back to the Michael Ferguson roundabout for a time to ensure the safety of our staff and passengers.
“We condemn anti-social behaviour and we offer a reward of up to £1,000 for anyone prepared to give evidence in court which leads to a conviction.”
Local MLA Danny Baker condemned the attack and appealed to those young people responsible to think about the impact of what they are doing.
“What started off as throwing maybe eggs then escalated when the darker nights started coming into the autumn," he said. "They got their hands on fireworks and started throwing fireworks at cars and has now escalated to stones in recent weeks. Then obviously the Glider got the window broke. But it’s not just buses that are attack, missiles have been thrown at all vehicles.
“The vast majority of our young people are engaged with youth services and even when they’re not they’re just a credit to the community, they’re out having fun. It is a small number behind it. I don’t know why they're doing this, it could be a number of factors. We have to keep delving into it and trying to get speaking to them and get them into positive community youth work. It’ll take time, I do find that, and we had this last year, it’s not something that’s just pops up. It tends to happen around this time every year. When we start hitting the dark nights we have this kind of behaviour, it’s not good but also we’re not giving up on any kid. We’re going to keep working away and I know it’s deeply frustrating for the community and there’s a lot of anger there because a number of cars have been hit and there’s been a couple of near misses with cars swerving.
Stretch of road where anti-social behaviour takes place
“There are serious consequences and it is an appeal to those behind it as well just to think about what they’re doing. You pick up that one stone and throw it you could take a life, that’s the reality of it, and ruin your whole future as well. We don’t want to see any young person get a criminal record and ruin their future at all but we want our community to be safe, so it is an appeal to them to refrain from any sort of behaviour like this and also if they want to come and be a part of anything or have ideas of what they would like to see in the community that would serve them, my door is open. I want to hear from everybody and see what we can work towards. We’ll keep working away at it. It’s not going to be resolved overnight but it certainly is something we’re going to keep working towards."
The MLA also highlighted a range of local community led organisations and initiatives which support young people in the area and work to make a positive impact on the community, including Lagmore Youth Project, CYDC and Saints Youth Club.
“We have put on the BMX workshops, they’re on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturdays in the new Páirc Nua Chollann. We’re running the Friday night detached drop-in. You had Lagmore that has been running it for quite a while now. Saints Youth Club are now running one in Brooks Leisure Centre which has been very successful as well. We had over 50 kids there Friday night and these are kids that aren’t in youth clubs. This is outreach, this is kids that are dropping in to play football and you’re hoping to get them into the youth clubs and make them aware of the programmes that are out there in the Colin Community.
"Some of the youth providers and the programme work that is ongoing like Lagmore Youth Project have the inclusive LGBTQ+, there are alcohol awareness courses, there is so much going on from juniors right up to seniors, it’s unbelievable. You also have CYDC, they do phenomenal work in Poleglass as well.
"We have some great facilities in this community and, as I say, the Brook Leisure Centre, a £15 million leisure centre on our doorstep, have opened their doors to many positive free events like the football. It doesn’t cost anything just come down and enjoy a couple of hours, chill out have a bit of fun and that’s what we’re all about."
