Northern Ireland

Derry family flee home after car torched in arson attack for second time

‘The safety of my three boys is my main concern, so we have to move out’ - mother

Leonie McLaughlin outside her home in the Drumahoe area of Derry where the family car was burnt out for the second time earlier this week. Leonie and her husband are now living in a hotel with their three young children while moving out of the house. Picture Margaret McLaughlin 19-9-2024
Leonie McLaughlin outside her home after her family car was burnt out for the second time PICTURE: MARGARET MCLAUGHLIN (MARGARET MCLAUGHLIN PHOTOGRAPHY )
By Catherine McGinty

A family has been forced to flee their Drumahoe home following an arson attack in which their car was destroyed.

Leonie McLaughlin, her husband and three boys, aged three, seven and 10, moved to temporary accommodation on Thursday.

Ms McLaughlin said she feared her family was targeted “because of religion”.

This is the second time a car belonging to the family has been torched outside their home.

Leonie McLaughlin outside her home in the Drumahoe area of Derry where the family car was burnt out for the second time earlier this week. Leonie and her husband are now living in a hotel with their three young children while moving out of the house. Picture Margaret McLaughlin 19-9-2024
Leonie McLaughlin outside her home in Drumahoe where the family car was burnt out for the second time PICTURE: MARGARET MCLAUGHLIN

She added the family now has no choice but to leave their home.

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“We really don’t know why we were targeted – it could be because they wanted the house or the fact we are in a mixed marriage and it’s because of religion,” said Ms McLaughlin, who lives with health and mobility issues.

The family had been woken up in the early hours of Monday after their Kia Sportage car was set alight.

CCTV footage shows what appears to be a young man walking around the car shortly before it was ablaze, leaving the family “terrified”.

“The safety of my three boys is my main concern, so we have to move out,” Ms McLaughlin said.

“I can’t stay because my main worry would be whether this is going to happen again. I can’t take that chance”.

DUP councillor Niree McMorris said: “This is just a total disgrace, and I condemn it in the strongest possible way.

“This family has been through a terrible ordeal.”