Hi °C | Lo °C A Belfast family have described their terror after their home was attacked in what they claim is an ongoing campaign of intimidation.
The Campbell family say that people with paramilitary connections were behind the attack in the early hours of Sunday in which a front window of their home off Donegall Pass was smashed.
This followed a personal threat — which they say was made last week — that their home would be burned out.
This is the latest in a series of attacks on the house which has seen the family issued with warning notices from police about paramilitary activity being directed against them.
Pamela Campbell, whose mother’s home was attacked on Sunday, said the trouble began after her brother Christopher died at the house in December 2007.
Christopher, who had just turned 18, was found hanging one month after his friend Dean Clarke's death. Dean, who was from north Belfast, had hanged himself days after taking drugs which later turned out to be horse tranquillisers.
Ms Campbell said the family have asked the Coroner and Police Ombudsman if Christopher’s death can be reinvestigated “because there are quite alot of factors that didn't add up with his suicide”.
She said the family were uncertain about whether Christopher had taken his own life, or if his death was suspicious in nature.
“With all these attacks we wonder if it was suicide. He got a death threat two months before he died,” she said.
“Since his death there have been sporadic attacks — if it’s not on the back fence of the house, it’s on the car. My brother wasn’t involved with paramilitaries and they had no reason to target him.
“We just feel that someone’s trying to drive my mum and sister out of the house.
“If it was just a suicide then why do these people need them out of the house?
“No other suicide family is getting such intense harassment.”
Ms Campbell said she feared for the lives of her family as the threats showed no sign of stopping.
“My mum has just turned 60 and doesn’t need this trouble at her time in life,” she said.
“I had to move house myself because I was getting harassment and trouble.
“My mum is on sleeping pills because of this and I’m frightened if the house is set on fire she’ll be killed.
“Why have they such a vendetta against a family that has suffered such a tragic death? If it’s suicide, why are we still being targeted?”
Police have confirmed they are investigating the incidents last week and on Sunday.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 0845 600 8000.
