Whitehead cafe attack 'hate crime' - police

Police are treating an attack on a Whitehead business on Monday night as a hate crime.
Damage to the interior of the cafe.Damage to the interior of the cafe.
Damage to the interior of the cafe.

A window was smashed and paint thrown at the family-owned Arden's cafe on King's Road at around 11pm.

The incident comes less than a month after the premises, formerly The Old Tea House, was reopened by Barbara and John-Paul Whearty.

The couple, owners of Cafe Cuan in Belfast, had recently moved to the area with their son Flynn (16 months).

An Edwardian window was smashed at the property.An Edwardian window was smashed at the property.
An Edwardian window was smashed at the property.

"We live above the cafe and were in the living room when we heard a loud bang outside," said Barbara.

"We looked out and saw a gang of young fellas in balaclavas taking off down the street, shouting.

"Flynn was sleeping upstairs, so we had to lift him and take him down into the street to see what had happened.

"They had thrown two paint bombs; one had bounced off but the other smashed an original Edwardian window on the property - it has been there for years and has survived two world wars. It's irreplaceable."

Barbara said she believed the attack was connected to tensions around her husband's past links to social media phenomenon Loyalists Against Democracy (LAD).

Established in the aftermath of the flag protests in 2012, LAD's Facebook and Twitter accounts were taken down last week.

"I think it's definitely to do with LAD," Barbara said.

"When we moved to Whitehead, the welcome we received was mostly very warm, but we did notice a surge in negative comments online. We also received a very serious threat on Twitter.

"Over the weekend we were made aware of some very vicious posts on social media, with suggestions we should be burnt out.

"The nasty comments online are one thing but this is something else. We are living in genuine fear at the moment.

"The move [to Whitehead] was our opportunity to offer some stability for Flynn; we had only just got him settled in his new creche this week."

The cafe is to be closed for the rest of the week, Barbara added. "As a business we had only just survived Covid. A lot of our team are very young as well and we are mindful of our responsibility to them.

"It isn't just the physical damage, but the emotional damage of what has happened.

"We're just absolutely gutted by it all."

Commenting, a PSNI spokesperson said: "The incident is being treated as a hate crime.

"Anyone with information regarding this crime is asked to contact police on 101, quoting reference 2270 04/08/20."