Mother with newborn flees home during night of disturbances

A Galliagh Councillor has warned that young people must not be allowed to hold the estate to ransom following a series of incidents in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Community activists said they had to intervene after a window were smashed at a flat with the baby inside.

The woman in the house had to flee her home with her baby, and has been found somewhere safe to live since the incident, Galliagh Community Empowerment representatives have said.

Galliagh Community Empowerment members were on the scene at Moss Park/ Collon Lane area, where bins were also torched and rubbish set alight at a traffic island.

A spokesman said: “We would say to these young people involved stop what your doing if not for yourself for your community.”

Sinn Féin Councillor for the area Sandra Duffy said: “I would make an urgent appeal for this nonsense to stop immediately.

“The people who live in Moss Park and Collon Lane do not deserve this happening in their area. A handful of young people cannot be allowed to hold an area to ransom like this.

“They cannot be allowed to undermine all the good work that goes here over the summer months.

“The one thing that I am sure of is that they didn’t burn their own wheelie bins, but have subjected others to a financial burden of having to replace their household bin.

“As an area of high deprivation people can ill afford to be spending money on continually replacing their bins.”

Colr. Duffy also thanked the community activists who helped out in the area, and called on parents in Galliagh to ensure that their sons or daughters do not get involved in this activity.