Car attack witness ‘sickened’ by incident

A man who witnessed an attack on a car in east Belfast, which is being treated as a racially-motivated hate crime, has said he was “sickened” by what he saw.

The eyewitness, who has asked to remain anonymous, told the BBC’s Nolan Show, a large group “attacked” the vehicle in Connswater Retail Park while “shouting racist abuse” on Monday.

“There were about 40 to 50 people surrounding the car, [saying] ‘get them out, get them out, get them out’, shaking the car, hitting the car, hitting the windows, booting the windows,” he said.

The man said there were three men with “dark skin” in the car and that they were “terrified-looking”.

“It sickened the life clean out of me.”

Police have said they are treating the incident involving a navy vehicle as a “racially motivated hate crime”, along with a report of damage to a silver vehicle in the same area.

A video of the incident was posted on social media.

BBC News NI has not been able to verify who recorded and posted the video.

The man who witnessed the attack on the navy car said he thought the men were going to be killed.

“The three of them would have been dead. That’s what I thought.

“I felt terrified and I was 20 yards away from it.”

The man added the driver eventually managed to get the car away from the crowd.

“The engine started roaring, people jumped back, the car spun out… They [the men] were still in the car, they couldn’t move.

“You see the driver, fair play to him… he drove out of there.”

The man also questioned why police were at a different car park, in the retail park, while the incident took place.

Police have said they received a report of a large gathering of people in the Factory Street area at about 19:20 BST on Monday.

The driver of a silver car was approached by members of the group and they then left their vehicle.

It was later reported the car was damaged, as the crowd dispersed following the incident.

The driver of a navy coloured car was also confronted by the group but managed to drive off.

There were no reports of any injuries to the driver of the navy car or damage to the vehicle.

The police have appealed for information.

Ch Insp Dunne said there will be “an increased policing presence in the area” and “self-appointed patrols are not accepted and will not be tolerated”.

“We would urge that any concerns are reported to police, so they can be addressed by police safely and effectively.”