Women urged to be vigilant after 'sinister' items found

Claire Sugden says the contents of the bag "gives rise to really evil intentions"

Women are urged to stay vigilant and police patrols have increased after a bag containing several "sinister" items was discovered in Coleraine, County Londonderry.

Cable ties, blue surgical gloves, condoms, a change of clothes and a balaclava were in the bag, former justice minister Claire Sugden said on Wednesday.

The assembly member said she is also aware of reports of a woman being followed by an individual in the Strand Road area of the town recently.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said the bag and a bicycle had been seized in the Strand Road area of the town on 13 February.

Women's safety

"It certainly does feel sinister, the reported items that were found. It certainly gives rise to really evil intentions," Sugden told the BBC's Nolan Show.

"I think it's difficult for any of us to imagine what those items would be used for.

"I think that's why there has been such a response in Coleraine, particularly from women who are starting to feel unsafe.

"There was reports over a week ago from a women who felt she was being followed in the same area.

"It's a general concern for women, as a 38-year-old woman I wouldn't feel safe walking around the town at night."

Women have said they feel unsafe in Coleraine

The story was first reported by Causeway Coast Women.

The publication said they have helped organise a public meeting in the town on 27 February in response to "growing apprehension among women in the Causeway Coast and Glens area".

Police said their investigation regarding the rucksack and bicycle seizure is ongoing and they are "progressing a number of lines of inquiry".

They said there has been an increased police presence in the area.

On social media platform X, the PSNI also said that a mobile police station was also deployed in the Strand Road after "recent posts on social media regarding reports of a suspicious male in the Coleraine area".

Gillian Anderson says she has been contacted by women being followed since before Christmas

The editor of the Causeway Coast Women blog, Gillian Anderson, was contacted by the woman who discovered the bag behind her garage after her dog had been barking at night.

"Her husband contacted the police and when the officers came out to investigate, inside the plastic bag, they found a rucksack which contained a number of items including a hammer, cable ties, some sort of plastic mask, a balaclava and a sex toy along with everything else."

Gillian said the woman was "very concerned. What were those items indicating? What was the intent of the person?

"She just wanted to make other women in the area to be more aware and to be vigilant."

Gillian said it isn't the first incident in the area. She said she has been reporting on women being followed in the town since before Christmas.

"Women are very concerned and very scared. I've been in touch with so many who say I used to walk my dog at night but I'm too scared now.

"I would be one of those women."

The PSNI has increased its presence in the area with a mobile police station

Ms Sugden said these incidents in Coleraine follow high-profile sexual assaults in Londonderry in recent months.

"Women have to be really conscious to their surroundings, they have to be aware that maybe they are not safe while walking along at night, they have to take precautions in relation to that," she said.

"Regrettably, I am saying be aware, be careful, if they [women] are walking out at night, preferably don't go alone."

She added: "Women are not feeling safe, when things like this happen, unfortunately it is men who usually are the perpetrators around this, I appreciate that men absolutely can be victims too."

'There is real concern'

Chief executive officer of Causeway and Mid Ulster Women's Aid, Sharon Burnett, said many women in the area were "very nervous" and said she wanted to reassure them that help and support is available.

"Every woman should be free and safe to walk on the streets," Ms Burnett said.

"We don't know if this a real threat, but there is real concern, she said.

"This is a topic of hot discussion among women that we support and among our staff team because it is something that has been widely discussed in the local area."

Police resources

Sugden said police are doing all they can with the limited resources that are currently available to them.

"The police will respond to things like this happening, they have a role in keeping people safe, people say to me that visibility on the ground is key to that," she said.

"To be fair to the police, resources just aren't there for them.

"What's our government doing? We have this fantastic strategy to end violence against women and girls but what practical things, tangible things can we do on the ground?"