AN INCIDENT THAT saw sectarian graffiti sprayed on the side of an under-12s football team’s bus has been labelled a ‘hate crime’ by police in Northern Ireland.

The children, who are from west Belfast, returned from a match they were playing in north Belfast to find the term ‘KATs’ (Kill All Taigs) sprayed onto the doors of their bus.

The PSNI has now appealed for anyone who witnessed the incident to come forward with any information. 

A spokesperson confirmed the offence took place on Friday 14 November, sometime before 7.30pm. The vehicle was parked outside a leisure centre on the Ballysillan Road in Belfast.

Speaking about the incident, Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly, said:

It’s possible that this action was the work of only a small number of individuals but it’s despicable that anyone would be bigoted enough to target children in this way.

Kelly also had a number of complaints about the way that police reacted to the incident – including the length of time it took for them to respond – and said he would be raising his views with the Policing Board and Belfast City Council.

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