Racist motive suspected in Antrim attacks

PSNI detectives are investigating two racist attacks on the homes of Lithuanian nationals in Co Antrim.

PSNI detectives are investigating two racist attacks on the homes of Lithuanian nationals in Co Antrim.

Three windows were smashed at a house in the Seymour Hill Mews area of Dunmurray at around 11.30pm yesterday. About 20 minutes later, paint was thrown over two windows at a house in Rowan Drive.

The PSNI said they believed both incidents were connected and may be racially motivated.

Racist violence has been growing at an alarming rate in the North in recent years, with loyalist paramilitaries are believed to be behind a significant proportion of the reported incidents.

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In a new report, the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities claims there is institutionalised racism in the criminal justice system.

The report, The Next Stephen Lawrence? — Racist Violence And Criminal Justice In Northern Ireland, was written by Dr Robbie McVeigh and details the stories of 162 victims and survivors of racist violence across the North.

Dr McVeigh said: "The scale of the violence is frightening enough but the failure of different elements in criminal justice to deal effectively with that violence is just as problematic.

"It is, we believe, unambiguous evidence of institutional racism right across the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland."