'Glass shattered over my bed as I slept' - says race hate victim

An Indian man whose County Antrim home was targeted in what police are treating as a racially-motivated hate crime has described the "super scary" moment glass shattered over his bed as he slept.

The man, who did not want to be named for fear of being targeted again, said he and his flatmate, who is also Indian, were going to look for another property that was not so exposed.

The living room and bedroom windows of their ground floor flat on Main Street in Broughshane were smashed shortly before midnight on Wednesday.

The man, whose property in Main Street in the village was targeted at about 23:45 GMT on Wednesday, said he was awakened from his sleep by the smashing.

"I just covered my face with the blanket so that the glass was not getting into my eyes," he told BBC News NI.

"I got out of the bed as soon as the breaking stopped, and went out and checked. There was nobody, and I didn't see anyone through the window."

He added: "It was super scary because I thought somebody was trying to get inside the house, but the windows just broke and they left."

He said he and his flatmate had been living in the property for about six months and that it was convenient for their job.

He had previously been living in nearby Ballymena and while he said he was aware of racist riots in the town last summer, neither he nor his flatmate thought they would be a target.

"We are surprised," he said.

"We just go to work and come back. We're not that social. We go to work, come home, eat, sleep and repeat."

He said he thought Broughshane was a peaceful village and that he had been happy there but this attack had left him feeling "confused and frustrated".

His landlord, he said, had been very supportive and was going to install security cameras at the front and back of the property.

He added that he and his flatmate were now processing things after the attack, and that they would soon start looking for another place to live.

Ulster Unionist North Antrim assembly member Jon Burrows said he was absolutely disgusted by the attack.

Asked what he would say to the perpetrators, he said: "I'd say 'you're faceless thugs, you're cowards, you prey on people and then you skulk in the night - carry out an attack and run away'."

"I doubt they make the contribution to our economy and our society that the victims of this crime contribute," he added.

"They should be ashamed of themselves and they deserve nothing else but to be arrested charged and convicted for this outrageous attack."

Sinn Féin MLA Philip McGuigan said "there should be no place for racism in our society.

"People should feel free to come here and set up home in Broughshane or Ballymena or anywhere else across the north and feel welcome."

He added: "They're the people who are welcome, I would suggest that the people who are racist, the people who are carrying out these attacks, they're the people who aren't welcome in our community."

Alliance MLA for North Antrim, Sian Mulholland said she was "appalled that anybody would be attacked for who they are".

"Victims of these attacks need to understand that they are not isolated and they are welcome, and the vast majority of people want to see them build and thrive a peaceful life in the villages across north Antrim," she added.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said that enquiries are ongoing and have appealed for information in relation to the incident.