Teens in court over North intimidation

TWO boys aged 15 and 16 will appear in a Belfast court this morning charged in connection with last week’s intimidation of more than 100 Romanian migrants in the city.

The pair have been charged with provocative behaviour and the 15-year-old is also charged with intimidation.

Today’s court appearance comes after a weekend of anti-racism events across Belfast organised to condemn the attacks on the Romanian families.

An interdenominational service was held at the Fitzroy Presbyterian church last night. Organisers told the BBC it was the chance for them to express solidarity with “strangers in our midst as well as sorrow and shame at the racist attacks that have taken place on our community”.

There was also an anti-racism rally at Belfast City Hall on Saturday afternoon at which Patricia McKeown of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions said: “We cannot accept this happening to anyone in our society, particularly those who are the most vulnerable and who have come here because they are fleeing repression in their own country and across Europe.”

Following last Tuesday’s attacks 114 Romanians were forced to leave their homes and seek shelter in temporary, emergency accommodation. As well as having their homes attacked some of the Romanian families living in Belfast had pages of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf stuffed through their letterboxes. Many have now said they want to leave the North.

While loyalists have been blamed for the spate of attacks, police have said they do not believe paramilitaries were involved in orchestrating the violence.

Yesterday afternoon an open top sightseeing bus carrying 40 tourists was stoned in West Belfast. A number of youths wearing hooded tops were seen running away after the incident.

The owners of the bus said one of the windows was broken but none of those onboard were injured.

Australians Eunice and Des Cassidy had only been in Belfast for an hour and were on the bus when the attack took place.

Ms Cassidy said: “I was sitting right at the window and heard a big bang, I didn’t see what happened, I just heard the bang and said ’Oh, what was that’.

“I’ll admit I had been a bit scared about coming to Belfast because there was only trouble not so long ago. It just scared me a bit, but then we went on and everything was OK.”

Husband Des took it all in his stride. “It didn’t worry me, its happened to me in Australia too,” he said.

Open-top buses regularly tour around Belfast showing the areas of the city most notorious during the unrest in the North.