I won't have area labelled as racist, says Poots after anti-social behaviour

Poots says that when community representatives spoke to the children's parents the incidents have stopped

The anti-social behaviour by young people in south Belfast should not be "blown out of proportion", according to the MLA for the area.

On Tuesday police said both members of minority ethnic groups and elderly people had been left in fear as youths gathered on Donegall Pass and threw items including water balloons, bottles and cans, hitting members of the public.

Edwin Poots said, that while it was wrong, it was "youngsters that haven't reached teenage years... thinking they're having fun throwing water balloons at passers-by", and it was not targeted at a group.

Reverend Dr Livingstone Thompson from the African and Caribbean Support Organisation said the issue of anti-social behaviour was not insignificant.

He said a series of recent events across Northern Ireland would raise anxiety levels in vulnerable communities.

'I won't have this community labelled as racist'

Speaking on Good Morning Ulster, Poots said there was "no evidence that this was targeted towards people of other communities. I think it was just targeted at anyone who was passing by: 'We'll throw a water balloon and get a chase.'"

"I won't have this community labelled as racist in any way. That is just not the case, these kids are in a deprived area... their summer scheme has not been running and they are bored and doing things they shouldn't be doing but it shouldn't be blown out of proportion," he said.

"I think the police would have been better contacting community representatives because as soon as they became aware of it and police made them aware, they went and spoke to parents and it stopped."

He said the area was made up of about 30% ethnic minority communities and they "have lived there unhindered and very happily for 40 years".

However, Reverend Dr Livingstone Thompson said what anti-social behaviour "creates is a sense of anxiety and when they feel there is no protection from this behaviour, that sense of vulnerability is increased".

"When a community sees one set of incidents happened in east Belfast, then south Belfast, then Ballymena, what you do is see patterns of actions and vulnerable ethnic group individuals report increased anxiety and decreased levels of trust," he said.

He said it comes as a result of deprivation and "poor structures in communities and families".

Police said they were appealing directly to parents and guardians to "know where your children are and what they are doing".