Vandals target community farm in west Belfast

YOUNG vandals threatened a female member of staff, hit a police officer with an object and left animals “terrified” at a community farm in west Belfast.

St James’ Community Farm said last Thursday night, around 10 male youths attacked the farm with bricks, trespassed into an animal field and verbally threatened a female member of staff.

The group said the harassment had been a regular occurrence over the last three weeks, with wooden pallets used by goats taken and burnt as well as damage to the animal’s playground.

“The animals were terrified last night with the bricks hitting the metal of our building,” the group said.

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With farm volunteers staying on to monitor the premises, the local community were also asked to help.

Posting an image of a young masked person, the group also said they had pictures of faces of those involved and would make them public if there was further incidents.

“We would also like to point out that these youths were not local to St James,” the statement added.

Posting an update, the volunteers said they had been contacted by a parent of one of the youths involved, and said they were “very upset” by what had happened.

“The parent will be dealing with their son and passing on to other parents. We really appreciate this person coming forward so quickly and dealing with this....hopefully this is the end of it,” they said.

The PSNI received reports of young people throwing stones in the Broadway area on Thursday, and when officers attended a number of items were thrown at a police vehicle.

An officer was also struck by an object thrown and the young people were dispersed.

Inspector Ross Hakin said: “I am appealing to parents to know where your children are and advise them against becoming involved in anti-social behaviour.

“Officers continue to work alongside partner agencies, local representatives and the community to find collaborative and proactive solutions to address the problem.

“We are committed to working towards a solution and welcome any information from the public and local elected representatives to inform what we are doing.”

He added that officers continued to provide a visible presence in west Belfast, and that as well as deploying resources to the areas of greatest need with targeted policing operations, officers worked alongside partners to address community concerns.