Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
GIRL, 15, SMASHED IN FACE WITH A BRICK
Mum hits out after train halt assault
THE mother of a teenage girl who could face surgery after being hit with a brick at a train stop has spoken out.
Clare Corr said her daughter Lara, 15, has been left shaken after she was struck while waiting with her friend at the Dunmurry halt on the outskirts of Belfast on Saturday night.
She added: “She’s extremely upset about it. It’s mainly her face, you know how that can affect a teenage girl.
“There are two fractures. One just below the eye and one at the side of the eye going out towards her ear.
“They’re worried in case the retina comes away from the eye.
“She has double vision when she looks one direction.
“We will find out on Monday if she needs surgery.” Lara was with her friend Whitney at the train halt when a group of what’s believed to be teenage boys threw a brick across the train line.
It hit her in the eye just minutes after she’d told her mum that she would be making her way back to their home in nearby Lagmore soon. Clare, 42, said: “I spoke to her at 10.10pm and she said, “I’m just leaving Whitney, she’s getting on the train and then I’ll be on my way’.
“And then her friend phoned me from her phone at 10.15pm squealing saying that blood was coming out of Lara’s eye and she’d been hit with a brick. Nobody has come forward to the police as of yet.” Lara, who had been due to go on holiday with her family will see a specialist today.
Sinn Fein West Belfast Councillor Stephen Magennis said there has been a “major effort” to curb anti-social behaviour in the area.
He told the Mirror: “We have always been saying somebody will be hurt.
“This is a serious assault and a disgusting attack.
“I have spoken to the family and offered support and will be trying to help them locate the person who threw the stone at this girl and caused this damage to her face.
“I want to wish Lara a full recovery.