Petrol bombs thrown

Two devices were thrown in the incident on Thursday night and stones were also thrown at a vehicle. A PSNI spokeswoman said enquiries were ongoing.

Appealing for anonymity because she was frightened of any reprisals, the young woman said she and her partner were sitting by the window watching television.

“We heard a noise but we thought it was one of the weans upstairs. By the time we stood up there were a few more banging noises, but this time they were coming from outside. My partner went to the door and I heard him shouting, but by the time I got to the door he’d gone out and was on the green, still shouting. I saw no one but my partner said he saw four males,” she said.

The young mother said she saw a small fire on the green to her left; when she, her partner and other neighbours who had gathered looked around they found a lot of big stones lying around and two petrol bombs, one which was burned out but not smashed and the other, which had not smashed but was still on fire.

“One of the other neighbours put that one out with a stick. We stood about for a while, but then went home and later on local councillor Drew Thompson came out as did the police, and they took the two bottles and that was that,” she said.

The couple’s house is adjacent to the green, and next to that is a field leading to Currynierin, and she said she was concerned about her children’s safety: “I have two small kids in the house and their rooms are at the front. If those who are responsible for this behaviour break a window it’s my children who’ll bear the brunt. This area is full of young kids, and couples and older couples and some famlies have been living here for years. Some of us have seen this every year but it’s still scary when it happens and we don’t know why it has happened so early in the year. It is usually July or August before it flares,” she said.

Alderman Drew Thompson, attended the area shortly after hearing about the incident: “I got a call at about 10.30pm and I immediately contacted the PSNI who told me they were in the area but not in the immediate vicinity. I made my way out to the scene where I was confronted with people in distress. They were concerned that this incident marked the start of an ongoing concentrated campaign of attacks on them again.

“I spoke to residents and looked around the green and found two petrol bombs. One was blackened and looked burned out; the other had the rag still intact,” he said, adding: “One of the men in a house told me he heard a rumpus, four young people standing over the hedge firing stones in the field between Currynierin and Stevenson Park. This area is a known trouble spot, and I am making an outright call for both communities to not get involved in tit-for-tat attacks.”

PUP Deputy Leader Nigel Gardiner said he was ‘disturbed’ by the Stevenson Park incident and condemned those responsible: “I would ask those responsible for incidents such as this to think seriously about the consequences for the wider community. Local people want to go about their daily lives in peace and not have to worry about mindless and pointless incidents such as this.

“Incidents such as this damage the reputation of the City at a time when we are looking to attract investment to provide new jobs for local people who are unemployed.”