Investigation after sectarian attacks on cars

The attack comes after a mob of 100 youths, believed to be nationalists, attacked the tiny largely Protestant enclave when a house and four vehicles were attacked in Ringford Park on Friday.

Father-of-two Grzegorz Jakubowicz, who lives in Suffolk, came back from work to find his windscreen smashed.

“My wife saw the stones flying,” he said. “I see stones flying from time to time.”

The reason for the nationalist stone throwing, he said, was sectarianism. The Polish man has lived in the area for two years.

It is believed the Polish family were due to catch a ferry at 7am on Tuesday to travel back to Poland but that the attack has left them without a car.

Residents, community workers and politicians from the DUP, SDLP and Sinn Fein held a joint news conference after meeting police at lunchtime on Monday. They said police had promised extra patrols in the area.

A number of Catholic families went to Protestant households to offer support following Friday night’s attack.

UDA leader Jackie McDonald said: “There’s goodwill here. It’s not exactly a shared space, but there’s a shared recognition of the problems.

“I think the two communities have worked very well together.”

He also stood by a claim officers took around 40 minutes to respond to the attacks.

“(If) people on both sides know there’s no police about, they can do whatever they want to each other and no one will stop them,” he said.

The PSNI said: “Police are aware of the claims, which will be investigated.

“If there are specific instances where individuals are unhappy with the actions of any police officer they should contact the office of the Police Ombudsman.”

Residents in the largely Protestant area have praised Catholic neighbours who went to their aid. Community leaders said the actions of the mob had not damaged relations, but had showed just how strong those relations were.

Police said they are treating Friday night’s attack as a hate crime. They said they had earlier been called out to a house party in Brooke Drive. Some youths had moved into the street and there were scuffles. Police have set up a dedicated team to investigate the violence.