The home of murdered Belfastman Robert McCartney was attacked early on Saturday morning, it has emerged.
The PSNI today confirmed that detectives are investigating an incident at two homes in Mount Pottinger, east Belfast. One of the houses was owned by Ms Bridgeen Hagans, Mr McCartney’s fiancée.
Mr McCartney (33) was murdered in a Belfast bar last January in a case that attracted international media attention when Ms Hagans and Mr McCartney’s sisters undertook a campaign for witnesses to come forward.
Two men are before the courts at the moment - one charged with Mr McCartney’s murder, and another charged with the attempted murder of MrCartney’s drinking partner at the time, Brendan Devine.
Police today confirmed that at least one missile was thrown at Ms Hagans’s home breaking a window. Local reports suggest a number of stones were thrown by a small group of people.
The attack was reported to police shortly before 2am on Saturday. A neighbouring house was stuck by a missile and a window was damaged but not broken the PSNI said.
Last April, one of Mr McCartney’s sisters, Paula, said she was threatened and told to leave her Short Strand home - near Ms Hagans’s house. She claimed a crowd of about a dozen people shout abuse at her and her sisters as they handed out leaflets as part of their justice campaign.
It is widely believed that Mr McCartney’s killers were also IRA members and that a number of witnesses were involved in cleaning the crime scene before the police arrived.
Seven Sinn Féin members were suspended amid allegations of failure to co-operate with the police investigation. A number have since been reinstated in the party.