Family targeted in racist attack as mud thrown at Derry home

By Claudia Savage, Press Association

A family have been verbally abused and had mud thrown at their home in a racially motivated attack in Co Derry.

Police said they had engaged with “a number of young people” with regards to the incident in the Strathfoyle area of Derry.

The attack comes as PSNI statistics show police recorded more than 1,500 racist hate crimes and nearly 2,500 racist incidents in the year from March 2026, the highest number since records began in 2004.

Police said they received reports that the family in Strathfoyle had been receiving verbal abuse “over a number of weeks” and reports “mud and water balloons had been thrown at the property”.

Police in the Strathfoyle area of Derry/Londonderry investigate report of racially motivated harassment. Full details here: https://t.co/HqQqhR5BRx pic.twitter.com/ePZPHrBpPU

— Police Service NI (@PoliceServiceNI) May 15, 2026

A PSNI spokesperson said: “A number of young people have been spoken to by police in relation to this matter, which is being treated as a racially motivated hate crime.

“Officers from the Neighbourhood Policing Team will continue to engage with the community, however racially motivated crime is unacceptable in today’s society and police will deal with any reports robustly.”

Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland director, raised concern about racist violence in Northern Ireland which he said is “spiralling out of control”.

“For years, minoritised communities have warned that racism is becoming normalised, and these record figures show those warnings were not heeded,” he said.

“The Stormont Executive has failed to protect Northern Ireland’s increasingly diverse society and has left many people feeling unsafe in their own communities.

“Tackling racism and race hate crime in Northern Ireland requires not just a consistent response from the police but clear leadership from the Executive.”

Police recorded 1,507 racist hate crimes and 2,367 racist incidents in the 12 months to the end of March 2026, an increase of 561 incidents compared with the previous 12 months.