AN attack on a house in North Belfast at the weekend is being treated as a sectarian-motivated hate crime.
The incident occurred in the Sherbrook Terrace area on Saturday night at around 9.30pm when it was reported a number of youths were in the area near Carlisle Circus. It was reported that stones were thrown at a property, causing damage to the home.
Sinn Féin Oldpark Councillor JJ Magee condemned the incident.
“Every act of sectarianism must be condemned in the strongest possible terms and my thoughts are with the victims of this senseless attack," he said. “I’ll be meeting the PSNI and Department For Infrastructure today and raising interface problems and the need for improved lighting to make streets safer.
“I, along with others within the community, are working to stop problems at interfaces every weekend and at times on a nightly basis. Sectarianism is a scourge on the whole community and must be confronted.
“I’ve had a long standing engagement with officials from DFI making the case for enhanced street lighting in specific problem areas and would like to see prompt action. We know that environmental improvements can improve street safety and reduce crime.
“Unfortunately the small number of young people involved in interface violence can have a large impact upon the wider area.
“I must say that the vast majority of local young people are a credit to North Belfast and these incidents are not representative of young citizens.”
DUP MLA Brian Kingston called for co-operation across all sectors to seek to prevent further attacks.
"In response to sectarian attacks against homes in Lower Shankill and Lower Oldpark over the weekend, I have been in touch with senior PSNI officers and community representatives involved in the local Policing Focus Group," he said. "The PSNI has agreed to ring-fence resources within North Belfast to provide a dedicated focus on all the areas of concern. Residents should ring the police on 999 to report any incidents/attacks which occur.
"Further meetings are being arranged this week to review recent incidents and response and to facilitate co-operation across all sectors to seek to prevent further attacks. We are also pushing for perpetrators to be identified and brought to justice."
