Children involved in 'vile' race-hate harassment, says councillor

A councillor has said primary school children have been involved in repeated incidents of harassment of a family on the outskirts of Londonderry, which police are treating as a racially-motivated hate crime.

Sinn Féin councillor Alex Duffy said he had seen doorbell camera footage of children using racist language near a house in Strathfoyle, which he described as "absolutely vile".

The family reported verbal abuse which went on for weeks, as well as mud and water balloons being thrown at their home.

The police said they had spoken to a number of young people about the incidents.

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme on Monday, Duffy said the harassment had been ongoing for weeks.

"I was first contacted several weeks ago when this particular family started to be harassed by a group of young people, starting with banging on the door and banging on the windows," Duffy said.

"These children are as young as Primary Seven."

He is now going to ask local school principals to have conversations with their pupils about racism.

"These incidents are not representative of the people of Strathfoyle.

"Strathfoyle has a long history of being not only multicultural, but also a mixed community.

"We're very proud of that tradition and, in recent years, we've had people from the Polish community, the Filipino community and others come here, make Strathfoyle home and become embedded in the community and involved in local life."

Speaking last week, anti-racism campaigner Beverly Simpson, who is an independent member of the local policing and community safety partnership, said the family should be allowed to live in peace.

She said everyone had a responsibility for make sure their neighbours felt safe, regardless of their ethnicity.

She said that there was a "growing awareness" of race-hate crimes.

"Once there's awareness there's hope, you can work with awareness," she said.