East Belfast: church attack branded race-hate crime

An arson attack on a church in east Belfast last night (Tuesday) is being treated as a "racially motivated hate crime."

Police say two masked men used an angle-grinder type tool to cut shutters on the building in Templemore Street before pouring in liquid and setting on fire.

A PSNI spokesperson said: "It was reported that two masked males, wearing dark coloured track suits, arrived at the church premises shortly before 9.30pm.

"An angle-grinder type tool was then used to cut a hole in the shutters before a flammable substance was thrown inside and set alight.

"Fire service personnel attended and extinguished the fire which caused damage to the shutters and the front hall of the building with further smoke damage caused inside the building.

"Both males are believed to have ran off along Templemore Street after the incident which is being treated as a racially motivated hate crime."

Officers are appealing to anyone with any information about this incident or who may have doorbell/CCTV or dash-cam footage from the area which may be able to help with the investigation, to call police on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference number 1852 27/08/24. A report can be submitted online using the non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/ or you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/.

The Rev Mervyn Gibson of the nearby Westbourne Presbyterian Church condemned the incident, saying all arson attacks are wrong.

"I condemn it unreservedly," he said. "If those misguided people who did this did it in the name of racism or against immigration, it should be condemned.

"The people of east Belfast do not want to see racist attacks against their neighbours."