Tourists in Belfast racist mob attack

A group of English tourists, some of them black, were subjected to a racist attack in the centre of Belfast, police said today.

The incident happened at a Chinese restaurant in Donegall Pass in the south of the city last night.

Police were called to deal with a mob who were threatening the tourists and a short stand-off took place.

Bottles and stones were thrown during the incident and one youth was arrested for disorderly behaviour and criminal damage.

Londoner Ivan Broadbent, who was part of the group, said the abuse was unprovoked.

“They came to us. We didn’t even say anything, we didn’t even retaliate. Words cannot even express the way I feel about these people,” he added.

A police spokeswoman said they were keeping an open mind on the cause of the disturbance but were not ruling out a racial motive.