SDLP man targetted in petrol bomb attack

A police chief appealed today to the people of Derry's Bogside to help him put a stop to attacks on the home of SDLP Assembly…

A police chief appealed today to the people of Derry's Bogside to help him put a stop to attacks on the home of SDLP Assembly member Mr Pat Ramsey.

In the latest attack, two petrol bombs were thrown at Mr Ramsey's home late last night, starting a fire which engulfed the front of the house and which was put out by quick-thinking neighbours.

Condemning the attack, Superintendent Johnnie McCarroll said: "This was more than just an attack on Mr Ramsey, it was an attack on his family and the community he serves."

He said he was eager to put a stop to the continuing intimidation Mr Ramsey was suffering.

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"I would appeal to the people of the Bogside to come forward with information and evidence that will enable us to place the culprits before the courts."

Mr Ramsey was not at home when the petrol bombs were thrown at his Meenan Drive house. But his wife, pregnant daughter and four-year-daughter were inside. The devices exploded just under the young girl's bedroom window.

She was taken to hospital in July with convulsions after two hooded men burst in to her father's constituency office in the city and sprayed a noxious substance.

In all, Mr Ramsey has been the subject of eight attacks on his home or office in less than two years.

No-one has claimed responsibility for the campaign but dissident republicans are being blamed by the SDLP. Mr Ramsey is on the board of the local Derry District Policing Partnership.

Mr Ramsey said the attacks were "appalling" and being carried out by people getting "comfort and encouragement" from some quarter or organisation in the area where he lived. He would not give in to the intimidation, he added.

He appealed to people in the area, saying they had a responsibility, a duty of care, to give him or the police details of who was responsible "before they either kill themselves or take out a member of my family".