Landlord describes ‘campaign of hate’ after racist burning of cars

By Jonathan McCambridge, PA

A farmer and landlord in Ballymena has said there has been a “campaign of hate” against him and his Filipino tenants.

Sam Carson spoke out after a number of cars were set on fire in the Co Antrim town on Sunday and destroyed, in a racist attack.

Police have appealed for information.

Ballymena suffered several nights of racist violence earlier in the summer.

 

The weekend incident happened in the Lisnevenagh Road area and was the latest in a series of racist crimes across Northern Ireland.

A police spokesperson said: “We received a report at about 10.10pm that six vehicles had been set alight and were destroyed.

“Our inquiries are ongoing and, at this time, we are treating this as arson with a racially-motivated hate element.

“We are appealing to anyone who might have any information which may assist us, to get in touch.

“The number to call is 101, quoting reference number 1473 31/08/25.”

Mr Carson told the PA news agency: “On Sunday evening I was alerted by a tenant who came running in a panicked situation that we were under attack.

“I wasn’t sure what he meant but when I came out I found the vehicles burning, six vehicles were burning.

“There was great pandemonium and panic because we didn’t know if the house was burning, we didn’t know what was happening. It was just chaos.

 

“We were pretty sure that we were attacked because of the tenants living on the property, they are foreign national tenants from the Philippines.

“They have been here for two and a half years with their visas.

“They are paying tax and living here. We are in a peaceful surrounding and never expected anything at all.”

Mr Carson said an online campaign targeting him and his tenants began after the riots in June.

He said: “Since that happened there has been a campaign of hate against me and my tenants.

“The first post was in June. It said there is a man who brings in illegal immigrants, a totally wrong fictitious allegation.

 

“Those posts continued and then we had a post naming me. Then we had a post saying where I and my tenants live.”

He added: “We are peaceful here, we have never had any trouble until Sunday night.

“It came as a great shock. We consider it a threat to our lives.”

One of the tenants, who did not wish to be named, told PA they had been sleeping on Sunday night when their roommate knocked on their door and told them about the fire.

“I thought the house is burning, that there was a fire inside the house, but I went outside and saw the cars burning, from the house the fire looked higher than the car,” they said.

“We panicked, we saw the fire extinguisher in our house, our roommate got it to put the fire out.

“We were scared in case the car exploded.”

They went on: “We live here peacefully. We don’t know why they have attacked us.

 

“I like living here, people here are very kind people.

“I came here to work. We pay taxes, our purpose here is to go to work to get a better future for our family.”

Sinn Fein MLA Philip McGuigan described the incident as “absolutely outrageous”.

He said: “This is a continuation of the disgraceful, evil and reprehensible racist attacks that fly in the face of the vast majority of the people and communities who are welcoming and embrace diversity.

“This racist attack is to be condemned in the strongest terms by all, we need to all stand together, and show strong leadership.

“Racism has no place in this community and I would appeal to anyone with information about this attack to bring it to the police.”

UUP MLA Jon Burrows said: “This was a disgraceful attack on law abiding and hard-working people who make a significant contribution to the local economy.”

He said he had requested additional police patrols in the area to “reassure the local community and to deter further attacks”.

North Antrim MP Jim Allister said it was a “highly dangerous and distressing incident”.

He added: “Six cars were deliberately set alight while the tenants were inside, a situation that could have tragically resulted in serious injuries or worse.

“Once a car is set on fire you have no telling what could happen.

“Quite apart from the destruction of the vehicle, the fire could easily have spread.

“It is also important to stress that this is not a case of illegal immigration.

“These individuals have come to Northern Ireland to work and to take up employment.

“They are here legally and are contributing to the local economy.”