Sledgehammer attack on takeaway being treated as 'racially motivated hate crime'
An investigation has been launched after reports of a burglary in Bushmills in the early hours of Wednesday morning, June 18.
This incident resulted in criminal damage being caused to the premises of a takeaway restaurant.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) confirmed that they responded to reports of a number of people smashing the front door and windows of a fast food establishment with sledgehammers between 2am and 2.30am this morning.
Additional damage was caused when the individuals gained entry to the premises.
Detective Inspector Lavery said: "Shortly before 2.25am, it was reported that three masked individuals used sledgehammers to cause damage to the front door and front windows of a fast food restaurant, before entering the premises, and proceeding to cause more damage inside.
"It is not believed that anything was taken during the incident, and there was no one inside the premises at the time.
"We are treating this report as a racially motived hate crime, and officers remain at the scene this morning, conducting enquiries."
The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week
PSNI investigators have now issued an appeal for witnesses or anyone with information in relation to the incident to make contact with authorities.
A spokesperson told The Irish Mirror: "Anyone who may have any information which would assist us, is asked to contact detectives via 101, quoting reference number 107 of 18/06/25, or submit a report online using our non emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/. You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/."
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