Brick thrown through window of hotel housing asylum seekers

The window, above centre, was removed after being smashed in the early hours of Tuesday morning

A brick has been thrown through a window of a hotel housing asylum seekers in Falkirk.

The incident happened in the early hours of Tuesday morning at the Cladhan Hotel - where hundreds of pro and anti-immigration demonstrators held rival protests outside the hotel last month.

Police Scotland has said officers are investigating the broken window.

First Minister John Swinney described the brick-throwing attack as "absolutely despicable".

Demonstrators were kept on different sides of the road outside the hotel during protests in August

He added: "There will be people inside that hotel who have experienced fear and terror and I'm appalled that they're experience fear and terror in Scotland, our country.

"Having seen some of these displays at protests I've seen some terrible language used on banners, absolutely appalling language about people, fellow humans beings - and that is designed to create fear and alarm. I deprecate all of it."

Local group Falkirk For All said the incident was "an act of intimidation" which should be "universally condemned by all".

They added: "Rising anti-immigration rhetoric is fuelling hostility and creating an environment where such actions take place.

"Everyone has the right to feel safe in our community, and actions like this bring our town into disrepute."

A number of protests were held outside hotels housing asylum seekers in Perth and Aberdeenshire as well as Falkirk during August.

The Cladhan in Falkirk and the Radisson Blu in Perth became asylum seeker hotels in August 2022.

The feelings in Falkirk have been inflamed after an asylum seeker from Afghanistan Sadeq Nikzad, 29, was convicted in June of raping a 15-year-old girl in the town centre.

Nikzad was jailed for nine years.

Following the latest incident, a Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Around 12.05am on Tuesday, 9 September, 2025, we were called to a report of a window being broken at a premises on Kemper Avenue, Falkirk.

"Inquiries are ongoing."