Paula McCartney said she was threatened

Paula McCartney said a woman told her she would be put out of the area.

The family also said they had to stop handing out leaflets about a vigil in her brother's memory when they were confronted by about a dozen people.

The police said they were investigating two complaints of intimidation and harassment. Mr McCartney, 33, was stabbed after a row in a Belfast bar.

The IRA has been blamed for the murder and interference with evidence and witnesses.

Vigil

The McCartney family said the "threatening" incidents happened on Wednesday in the Short Strand area of east Belfast.

Paula McCartney said the crowd who confronted them as they handed out the leaflets "were screaming and shouting abuse and telling us to get out of the district".

Sisters Paula, Gemma, Donna and Clare McCartney, along with Ms Hagans, were distributing leaflets seeking support for a vigil outside Magennis's bar in Belfast.

Paula said the crowd which gathered "tried to provoke us into physical confrontation but we did not rise to it".

Robert McCartney died in hospital after being stabbed

"This was blatant discrimination, very loud and threatening and they were trying to blacken Robert's name," she said.

The family said Mr McCartney's partner, Bridgeen Hagans, was also told to get out of the area.

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster on Thursday, Sinn Fein councillor Joe O'Donnell said he was aware "an altercation had taken place in the area while the McCartney family were distributing leaflets".

"I had been approached by some members of the family and asked to assist in helping them resolve the situation," Mr O'Donnell said.

"Subsequently other residents claimed they had been the victim of threats and abusive language by some members of the McCartney family."

SDLP leader Mark Durkan said the intimidation of the sisters showed the scale of the forces they were up against.

"They knew they were taking on some big forces. They also know that they're taking on some small-minded people, even in their own area," Mr Durkan said.

East Belfast outgoing MP, the DUP's Peter Robinson, described it as an outrage.

He said Sinn Fein claims that the McCartneys had been threatening towards other residents were preposterous.

Mr McCartney had been involved in a row in Magennis's bar on 30 January. He was later found seriously injured near the bar and died in hospital.

No-one has been charged in connection with the murder.