{"id":174712,"date":"2025-06-11T04:19:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T04:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/174712\/"},"modified":"2025-06-11T04:19:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T04:19:12","slug":"teenager-victim-of-shocking-and-brutal-assault-near-north-belfast-park-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/174712\/","title":{"rendered":"Teenager victim of \u2018shocking and brutal\u2019 assault near north Belfast park \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph\">A youth suffered serious injuries in a \u201cshocking and brutal\u201d assault in north Belfast on Sunday evening, a local representative said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Alderman Dean McCullough, who described the assault on the youth as a \u201csectarian hate crime\u201d, said he was attacked by a group in the Mountcollyer area close to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/search\/?query=%22alexandra%20park%22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/search\/?query=%22alexandra%20park%22\"> Alexandra Park<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The DUP representative said the teenager reported he was confronted by as many as 20 individuals who are believed to have made their way from a nationalist to a loyalist area through the park\u2019s \u2018peace gate\u2019, which was open. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">In a statement, the PSNI said: \u201cPolice received a report of an assault which occurred at the Mileriver Street area of north Belfast on Sunday, 8th June.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/news\/northern-ireland\/if-theyre-not-local-let-them-stay-there-womans-comments-as-masked-men-attack-homes-in-ballymena-and-attempt-to-set-curtains-alight-AW6YF262DJFE3BHJ3ZQ66NFNHE\/\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Woman in Ballymena says &#x2018;If they&#x2019;re not local, let them stay there&#x2019;, after being told attacked homes have people inside\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/AHB737TKDJCBTFBRE6X5IOJQWY.jpeg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"450\"\/><\/a><a class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/news\/northern-ireland\/my-children-are-frightened-to-go-outside-filipino-mechanics-home-targeted-after-ballymena-riots-AH7JKVOY7FBSFI2ENIOMUI3MRU\/\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"&#x2018;My children are frightened to go outside&#x2019; - Filipino mechanic&#x2019;s home targeted after Ballymena riots\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/L4ENM7HOZJCUHF5GCGX2YEJSSE.jpeg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"450\"\/><\/a><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"DUP councillor Dean McCullough \" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/EGRVZYO3CRKIJI2INSJSJRT3GQ.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"739\"\/>DUP Alderman Dean McCullough  <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The youth was punched, kicked around the head and face, beaten with sticks, and left with a fractured jaw, concussion and other serious injuries, Mr McCullough said, adding the victim needed hospital treatment. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI am absolutely sickened by this cowardly and calculated assault&#8230;my thoughts are with the young victim and his family at this deeply traumatic time, and I pray he makes a swift and full recovery,\u201d the alderman added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cNo child should ever be subjected to this kind of violence in their own community \u2013 this was not a fight, it was a targeted attack with potentially fatal consequences.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cLet\u2019s be clear: this was a sectarian hate crime \u2013 and it must be treated as such. I expect all political parties and public representatives, regardless of background, to condemn this without hesitation or ambiguity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI raised this urgently yesterday and will continue to press for a full investigation and robust response. These attacks must be confronted, condemned, and never allowed to become normalised.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Mr McCullough added that \u201cfollowing urgent engagement, agreement was secured yesterday to close the Alexandra Park security structure early due to ongoing interface issues. That is a necessary and responsible step in light of recent tensions\u201d. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A youth suffered serious injuries in a \u201cshocking and brutal\u201d assault in north Belfast on Sunday evening, a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":174713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5011],"tags":[72249,1144,72250,16,15],"class_list":["post-174712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-northern-ireland","tag-alexandra-park","tag-northern-ireland","tag-sectarian","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114662812231256015","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}