Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MUM TELLS OF TERROR AT INTERFACE VIOLENCE
Thugs target home for the second time
A MUM of two living at an interface has been targeted for the second time in just a few weeks.
The 33-year-old, who has a girl aged eight and a three-year-old boy, woke up yesterday morning to find her living room window and car windscreen smashed.
She said: “They need to grow up and move on. Nobody wants any of this bad, ill feeling.”
The mum lives at the interface on Kells Avenue in the Suffolk area of West Belfast.
Five weeks ago, glass bottles were thrown into her garden and she said young people set a fire on the other side of her gate. Then yesterday, she awoke to more damage.
She told the Mirror yesterday: “I heard a bit of a commotion at about 2am. I thought nothing of it and had a look outside but didn’t see or hear anybody.
“Then this morning I went to open the curtains and there had been something thrown at the window.
“It hasn’t come right through but the glass is completely cracked and I’m waiting for it to be boarded up. The windscreen of my car was smashed as well.” The mum has been desperately trying to hide the two incidents from her young kids.
She said: “It’s nerve-wracking. I’ve been in this house just over a year and there was absolutely nothing until five weeks ago. Absolutely nothing. I have friends on both sides of the community and there’s never been a problem.
“This doesn’t seem to be grown men doing this and doesn’t seem to be young kids. They seem to be from the age of 10 to maybe 17. I had a good look at them the first time. I’m not sure if it’s the same people who did it last night but it seems like a bit of a coincidence.
“It’s just ridiculous to be honest. My daughter goes to an integrated school and I don’t want this to rub off on her.
“She saw the window and asked what
BELFAST YESTERDAY
happened and I said, ‘I don’t know darling’. She really has no knowledge of it and when the police came she was out of the way. I don’t want her knowing too much, I thought everyone was past this.”
Urging those responsible to stop, the mum said: “It’s only a minority that are trying to keep this going.
“At the end of the day, it should be the older people who are bitter, not young ones. They have no reason to be doing this, it’s not funny.
“They are affecting people’s lives.” At the weekend, two pensioners were attacked near the woman’s home.
Victor Moore, 71, told the Mirror at the time: “I’m shook-up. I think it’s an absolute disgrace and these people may never get caught.”
The PSNI are investigating both the assault on the pensioners and the attack on the woman’s home.
A spokesman said: “Police received a report of criminal damage in the Kells Avenue area of West Belfast at around 7.20am this morning.
“The front window of a house and a car windscreen were damaged sometime between 10.30pm and 7am.
“Officers are appealing for witnesses and can be contacted on 101, quoting reference number 188 09/08/17.”