Sister condemns 'sickening' racist attack on siblings

The sister of two people injured in an attack in Londonderry, which police are treating as racially-motivated, has described the ordeal as "sickening", saying it has left their family deeply shaken.

The woman, who does not wish to be named in order to protect the identities of her brother and sister, said they were subjected to racial abuse before being attacked by a group of men, one of whom was armed with a baton.

Police said they are investigating three assaults and an incident of criminal damage in the Waterside area of the city on Sunday night.

They believe all three incidents may be linked and are treating them as racially-motivated hate crimes.

The sister of the two victims said her brother and sister had been left badly shaken by the ordeal.

"They were talking after she had parked her car at the side of the road when they were confronted and racially abused by a group of men," she said.

"One of them punched her first and then they hit the windscreen with a baton.

"My sister was punched and when they hit the windscreen, because she was already screaming, her mouth was open and when they hit the windscreen some of the glass particles went into her mouth.

"She told my brother to try and get away," she said.

She said her sister managed to get back into her car and drive away, but the group then turned their attention to her brother.

"After she had gone, he was still standing there and then they were attacking him and beating him with what was like a baton.

"He has two fractures in one of his legs and has to go back again for another scan," she said.

"They tried to break both his legs," she said.

The woman said both her siblings work in the healthcare profession and her brother will now have to take time off from his work in a care home because of the extent of his injuries.

"He can't stand on his own," she said.

She said she could not understand why those responsible for the attack had targeted her siblings.

"We are not troubling anyone and they were picked on because of their colour and it doesn't make any sense.

"They just picked out random people going about their day and you just decided to attack them and it's sickening.

"We are not troubling anybody and you just decided to pick on people because of their colour, gender or race and it doesn't make any sense."

She added that her sister had been living and working in Derry since 2021, while her brother, who arrived last year, also proudly calls the city his home.

The police said the incident was said to have occurred at about 21:00 on Sunday evening when the woman stopped her vehicle near Dales Corner.

Police said she was punched and the windscreen of her vehicle was smashed during the incident.

At around 21:20, they said a man was reportedly confronted by a number of males as he walked along the Bond Street and Dales Corner area before being struck to the lower body with an iron bar.

A third incident was then reported at around 21:30, when another man was allegedly assaulted inside licensed premises in the area after he managed to escape and get to safety.

In a statement, the North West Migrants Forum (NWMF) said it was appalled by the attacks, describing them as "disgraceful, unprovoked assaults based on nothing more than the victims' skin colour".

A spokesperson for the NWMF said they hoped those responsible would be identified and brought before the courts.

"We believe these attacks to be the actions of a few individuals and that they do not reflect the views of the wider Waterside community, many of whom have befriended and shown support to our members.

"Hopefully the PSNI can track those responsible down and bring them before the courts because behaviour like this cannot go unpunished."

Supt Sinead McIldowney said "there is no place in our city for this shameful type of behaviour".

"We will continue to use targeted patrols to help keep the city streets as safe as possible and have dedicated resources to investigating these reports.

"We meet regularly with partner agencies, local representatives and members of the community and we remain committed to working alongside them to address concerns.

"We would encourage anyone affected by crime motivated by hate to contact police to enable us to take action."