A Dromintee family who recently bore the brunt of a sickening racist slur, when the walls of their home were sprayed with racist graffiti, have been targeted once again in an attack they believe is linked to September’s disturbing hate crime.
Briege Roe and her 14 year old son Patrick were devastated by the mindless attack which saw their property scrawled with vile racist graffiti and the distraught mum says both she and her son had been living in fear of more attacks when they awoke on the morning of the 23rd October to discover that the tyres had been slashed on their car. The vandalism left the family with no form of transport for over 48 hours and has compounded their fears that they are being deliberately targeted in a hate campaign.
Speaking to The Examiner about the latest attack, Briege told us she has no doubt the incidents are linked and she revealed that her son has been subjected to a torrent of racial abuse in recent months – which she says police have been informed about.
The traumatised mum told The Examiner she had heard a noise on the night of the tyre slashing incident but when she failed to see anything suspicious outside her home, she put it down to the anxiety she has suffered since the racist graffiti attack. It was only when she went to leave Patrick to the bus stop for school the following morning that they discovered three of the four tyres had been slashed. Briege says two exterior garden lights were also stolen from the property on the same night.
Miss Roe says that being targeted a second time has left both she and her son “absolutely terrified.”
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“We’ve lived in Dromintee Parish for 14 years and whilst Patrick has suffered various forms of racism and bullying over the years, nothing as sinister as this has ever happened before,” she said.
“The graffiti attack absolutely floored us and Patrick could not understand why it was happening. I’ve spent the weeks since the attack reassuring him that it was a one-off and nothing else would happen, and then we are targeted again! How do I reassure my child and tell him he’s safe in his bed at night?” asked the worried mum.
“The fact that they have returned to the house has really, really scared us both and even when I was reporting this to the police I could barely speak or catch a breath I was so upset.
“My son has had nightmares since the first attack and, having looked up these sort of hate crimes online, he is terrified about what could happen next. I have retreated into myself and am suffering from anxiety and depression because of this ordeal and I am so petrified at night, I am barely sleeping. These people are the lowest of the low and are terrorising my son and I. We don’t deserve this and I can only hope that the police investigation leads to these thugs being caught so we can get on with our lives in peace.”
Branding the culprits “cowards”, Briege insisted she would not be intimidated from her home.
“If that’s what they want, they won’t get it,” said Briege. “Why should we move and start all over again somewhere else because of these cowards? The last number of weeks have been worse than anything we’ve ever experienced and I hope whoever is doing this is caught,” she said adding,
“It wasn’t children who sprayed the graffiti on our walls and it certainly wasn’t children who slashed our tyres.”
“We are members of this community and I won’t be intimidated out of my home. We are frightened and worried but I can’t allow this to ruin our lives and I need to be strong for Patrick.”
PSNI Sergeant Kerr has appealed to anyone who noticed any suspicious activity in the area on the night of the 22/23 October to contact Police at Newtownhamilton on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference 234 23/10/17.