Damage to a portrait of a DUP Lord Mayor at Belfast City Hall is now being treated as a hate crime, the PSNI has said.
The portrait of former mayor Lord Wallace Browne was damaged after an event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Irish language group Glór Na Móna.
The Irish News revealed this week that a Sinn Féin Assembly employee and party member who was suspended from the party after allegedly admitting involvement in the incident is the son of a sitting MLA.
It had been reported that the suspended Sinn Féin employee had spoken with the PSNI voluntarily last week as part of the investigation.
However, it is understood the PSNI has not yet formally interviewed anyone as part of the investigation.
“Police continuing to investigate criminal damage caused to artwork in Belfast City Hall are treating the report as a hate crime,” a PSNI spokesperson confirmed to the Irish News.
”The criminal damage is understood to have occurred sometime on Saturday evening, 19th October and was subsequently reported to police on Monday, 21st October.
”Our enquiries are continuing and we would encourage anyone with any information to contact police on 101 and quote reference number 1194 21/10/24.”
The categorisation of an incident as a hate crime has consequences in terms of how the PSNI and PPS record and progress the case.
Certain hate crimes can be classed as being ‘aggravated by hostility’, which can enable a higher sentence to be imposed by the courts.
Sinn Féin has not publicly commented on the incident since it confirmed last Monday that an employee had made the party aware of his involvement. He was then suspended and subsequently resigned from party membership and as a party member.
Meanwhile, the party has faced calls to publicly state any connections it has to those involved in causing damage to the portrait.
DUP MLA Brian Kingston said the public deserved to know the full facts of the incident. Mr Kingston was present at an Executive Office Committee meeting on Wednesday where First Minister Michelle O’Neill declined to answer questions about the City Hall incident.
“Sinn Féin should openly state the full extent of the party connections of those involved in the removal and damage of Lord Browne’s portrait,” Mr Kingston said.
“These were relevant questions which should have been properly answered at the Executive Office committee meeting last Wednesday. Any relevant declarations of interest should have been made by Sinn Féin members present as soon as the questions were posed.”
