Police investigate three linked ‘hate crime’ assaults in Derry’s Waterside
A woman’s car was smashed and two men were attacked in a series of racially motivated incidents on Sunday night.
Police in Derry are investigating reports of assault and criminal damage which occurred in the Waterside area of the city on Sunday night, November 8.
A female is reported to have been assaulted when she stopped, in her vehicle, at around 9pm in the vicinity of Dales Corner. It's reported she was punched and the vehicle's windscreen was smashed in this incident, which is believed to have involved two male suspects.
A man is reported to have been assaulted as he walked along the Bond Street/Dales Corner area at around 9.20pm where he was confronted by a number of males, and struck to the lower body with an iron bar.
At half past nine, it was reported a second male had been assaulted while inside licensed premises in the area. When the man tried to get away it's reported that he was chased. He was able to get to safety and get help.
From enquiries to date, police believe these three incidents - which are being investigated as racially-motivated hate crimes - may be linked.
Superintendent Sinead McIldowney said: “There is no place in our city for this shameful type of behaviour.
“We will continue to use targeted patrols to help keep the city streets as safe as possible and have dedicated resources to investigating these reports.
“We meet regularly with partner agencies, local representatives and members of the community and we remain committed to working alongside them to address concerns. We would encourage anyone affected by crime motivated by hate to contact police to enable us to take action.”
While police enquiries continue to establish what happened in each of these incidents, they urge anyone who may have information or footage which could assist enquiries to report it to police by calling 101, quoting reference 1583 of 08/11/26, or by using the witness appeal form at https://reporting.psni.police.uk/appeals
You can also give information to Crimestoppers by calling their 24/7 Contact Centre on 0800 555 111 or by visiting their website www.crimestoppers-uk.org