Child injured in racially motivated hate crime

The attack happened at a house in Roden Street at about 19:40 GMT on Monday

A child has been injured by broken glass after a large piece of masonry was thrown through a living room window of a family home in south Belfast.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has described it as a racially motivated hate crime.

The attack happened at a house in Roden Street at about 19:40 GMT on Monday.

"The child's mother was also injured and the young family traumatised," said a PSNI district commander.

'Hard to find the words'

The police are appealing for anyone with information to contact them

"This was an exceptionally serious incident which resulted in a young child being injured by shards of glass."

The commander added: "Those responsible for such racist violence bring nothing but shame on their local community.

"In contrast, the victims of this attack are working hard for their local community within the Health Service."

The officer said local residents would "know who was involved" in the attack and he urged them to contact the PSNI.

"I am appealing directly to them to stand up against this hate by providing any and all information that will help us to stop this and bring those responsible to justice."

The MP for South Belfast and Mid Down, Claire Hanna, has condemned the attack.

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, she said: "Big tough guys in this city injuring little kids with glass, because of their race. Hard to find the words."

Party colleague MLA Matthew O'Toole described the attack as "disgusting" and said it is not representative of the south Belfast community.

"A small child was injured here... we should all stop and pause and think about the society we live in," he told BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.

He added there needs to be an "enhanced" policing response to racially motivated crime, and he "will be pressing" for stronger legislation and "more severe punishments".

In a statement, Sinn Féin MLA Deirdre Hargey said it was "an absolutely appalling and disgusting act".

“Those involved in this sickening behaviour do not speak for the majority of south Belfast who are open, welcoming and champion diversity in all of its forms."

'Not acceptable'

Danielle Pollins offered her support to the child's mother, who was also injured

Danielle Pollins, a resident in Roden Street, said the community was "very concerned" by the incident.

"It's not something that happens here... we're not racist in any way shape or form, not in this community at all, we welcome everybody," she said.

"We're very, very annoyed... it's not acceptable, not at all."

To the child's mother, who was also injured, Ms Pollins offered her support.

Dr Naomi Green, an advocate for the Muslim community in Northern Ireland, said the attack "should never be the lived experience of any person anywhere, let alone a child".

"These so-called 'low level' incidents have become normalised over the years, partly due to political failures to implement adequate hate crime legislation to tackle ongoing racism across Northern Ireland and failure to invest in communities to tackle misinformation and prejudice," she added.

Dr Green said that many areas in Belfast "now feel unsafe", and "too many people feel silenced and afraid to speak openly about it or to even seek justice and report incidents to the PSNI".

"While most people do not support this, until the underlying issues are resolved, racism will continue to be a pervasive and dangerous reality to ethnic and religious minorities, not only in South Belfast, but across Northern Ireland."