Belfast family ‘traumatised’ after rioters tried to burn down house as children slept in beds

Terrorised families have been forced to flee their homes after violent and racist rioting saw migrants targeted in response to a street stabbing in Belfast.​

Several people had to risk their lives to escape their houses on Tuesday night after protests turned violent, with homes and cars set alight.

The unrest came after Stephen Ogilvie lost an eye and was left with serious neck and back injuries after he was stabbed in north Belfast on Monday night.

​Among those forced to flee to safety were two women and their four children, after a group of men kicked down their door and set fire to their home.

“Burning innocent families out of their homes is utterly, utterly deplorable. It’s thuggish, racist behaviour,” said Paul Doherty, an independent Belfast City councillor.

“Imagine someone trying to burn your home down while your children slept in bed. That’s where we were at last night.”​

Mr Doherty told The Independent that the women, who are Sudanese and Somali migrants with children aged between one and 10 years old, had been “targeted because of where they came from and the colour of their skin”.​

The women had been put in temporary accommodation and police and emergency services were supporting them, he said.​

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets following the stabbing on Monday, causing widespread destruction across the city.​

The alleged attacker Hadi Alodid, 30, an asylum seeker from Sudan, appeared at Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday charged with the attempted murder of Mr Ogilvie. He was also charged with making threats to kill an NHS radiographer and possession of a knife.

​Mr Doherty said attacks took place across several parts of Belfast, targeting dozens of families and destroying businesses owned by foreign nationals.

​“There are multiple families we’re trying to deal with who have been displaced as a result of the violence last night.​

“We’re getting phone calls throughout the course of the morning with people who have had some act of violence carried out on them, their household, or their property. It’s relentless. Every five minutes we’re hearing something else.​”

He had spoken to another family, who had a group go to the back of their house and attempt to set an oil tank on fire. A Middle Eastern-owned supermarket was also set ablaze.

​“I can only imagine the long-term impact of trauma that this has caused to those families and those children last night,” Mr Doherty added.

​“There’s a serious issue of racism in our areas of Belfast… We need political leadership, we need community leadership as well.”​

Northern Ireland’s Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said police had rescued “so many” families on Tuesday night, including a two-month-old baby.​

Two officers were also injured in the clashes, one who was hit debris on the head and another who suffered smoke inhalation when a petrol bomb exploded near him.

Mr Boutcher vowed to take action and said the force was drafting in an extra 200 officers onto the streets on Wednesday night.

He said: “We will deal with this. We will be on the streets tonight in numbers even more than we were last night, and we have got arrangements in hand to get mutual aid that will be arriving here tomorrow.”

Johnny McKee, a pastor at Belfast’s New Life City Church, is among those supporting families displaced during Tuesday’s demonstrations.

​He said an African woman who attends his church had her house set on fire and front windows destroyed in the disorder.

“Two young ladies huddled together in the corner of the living room and prayed for their lives while their windows were being smashed in.” ​

His father and sister managed to get to their house to help them escape alongside the fire brigade.​ The house behind them and two nearby were also set on fire, he said.​

Northern Ireland’s justice minister Naomi Long said bad faith actors who “yesterday would have struggled to find Belfast on a map” were “weaponising the fear that people genuinely have about what happened”.​

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Because, ultimately, if you’re driving people from their homes based on nothing but the colour of their skin, you can’t dress that up any other way, it’s racism, and those bad faith actors need to take a step back.”

The Police Service of Northern Ireland said the first person charged over the disorder was due to appear before Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

The man, 39, was arrested in Newtownabbey on Tuesday night, and has been charged with riot.

“All video and online footage is currently being reviewed with further arrests and charges to follow,” police said.

So far, three arrests have been in relation to the disorder, “but more will surely follow”, security minister Dan Jarvis said.