Vehicle hijackers in Derry/Londonderry condemned

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Wednesday, 5 August 2020 07:25

One of the hijacked vehicles which was set alight

By Q Radio news

Politicians have condemned a number of vehicle hijackings that took place in Derry/Londonderry last night - on the eve of ex SDLP leader John Hume's funeral.

Several vehicles were taken control of in the city on the evening Hume's remains were returned to his native city.

Current SDLP leader Colum Eastwood accused those responsible of violating the city's grief.

In the first incident yesterday, a van was hijacked in the Rathlin Drive area of Creggan just before 4pm.

It was subsequently found on fire a short distance away.

Around 45 minutes later, a delivery driver was instructed to hand over the keys to his van in the Glenowen Park area.

(A DPD delivery van was one of those hijacked yesterday evening)

Then thirty minutes later, a bus was hijacked at the top of Aileach Road in Ballymagroarty.

It was set alight, however the fire was quickly extinguished and minimal damage was caused.

Mr Eastwood said: "Derry is a city in mourning today. People are trying to show their respect for a man who brought an end to conflict and worked every day of his life to improve the lives of the people of our city.

"The attacks on people and vehicles that have taken place across the city are a violation of Derry's grief and those responsible have set themselves against our community.

"It needs to stop now and those responsible must be held accountable.

"I would appeal to anyone with information about any of these attacks to come forward to police and I would appeal to those responsible to reflect on what they're doing and call an end to it immediately."

MLA Martina Anderson says the timing of the attacks on a city in mourning is disgraceful.