A Catholic teenager in Northern Ireland has been kicked in the head and needed hospital treatment after an attack police believe is the latest in a growing number of sectarian attacks.
The 15-year-old boy was walking home with friends through Derry’s Waterside area when he was stopped by a group of around 30 youths. According to Twitter reports, he was asked what football team he supported, and set upon when he answered, “Celtic”.
Police inspector William Calderwood said one of the group had called over three other youths who started assaulting him. “The victim sustained a number of kicks to his head, face and back and a punch to his face,” he said. “His shirt was also ripped off him.” He was able to get to his feet and get help from a member of the public who took him home, said Inspector Calderwood.
“The victim subsequently attended hospital where he was treated for his injuries which included bruising to his back and face, grazes to his arms and legs and a chipped tooth.”
It was, said Mr Calderwood, “a vicious attack which is being treated as a sectarian assault”.
According to Sinn Fein councillor Christopher Jackson, the incident was the latest in a number of attacks on Catholics in Derry’s Waterside. “There have been families forced to leave their homes and property has been damaged. There is a concern that tensions are being deliberately raised.”
SDLP councillor Martin Reilly said that had it not been for the intervention of a passing motorist, the attack could have been much worse. “There is no place for this brutality in society and it is not indicative of the shared future to which we aspire,” he said.
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