Police last night linked an attack on a house in the west Belfast area of Poleglass to the serious assault of a man on Sunday over alleged comments made to a teenage girl.
The victim of the attack was questioned after it was reported that he made remarks to a teenage girl that made her feel “uncomfortable”.
Police say the attack took place in the Suffolk Road area at around 8pm on Sunday and came days after the attempted sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl in the area.
In response to an Irish News query, the PSNI on Monday evening confirmed a connection to damage to a house in the Ardcaoin area of Polegass.
Police said damage was caused to the windows and doors of the house.
In a statement the PSNI said: “At this stage of the investigation we are linking this attack to a report of the assault of a man on Suffolk Road on Sunday, 29th September, during which he sustained serious injury.
”We would reiterate that we are aware of online speculation connecting last night’s assault to recent reported approaches to women and attempted sexual assaults in the west Belfast area; however there is no evidence linking these reports at present, and no arrests have been made.
”We want to make it clear that the Police Service of Northern Ireland will not tolerate any type of vigilante activity and we would caution any individual or group in the strongest terms against taking the law into their own hands.
“The Police Service is responsible for law enforcement in Northern Ireland, not the community.”
Earlier on Monday, footage emerged of the man being led from a local business by police while another clip shows an injured man lying in the middle of a busy road.
Separate footage has also been circulated on social media showing a dark coloured car, which it is claimed had the back seats folded down and included “bed mattress with blankets”.
It is not known if the incidents are linked.
Sunday’s incident took place just days after an attempt was made to sexually assault a 13-year-old girl a short distance away at Upper Suffolk Road.
The victims mother told the Irish News last week that her daughter was returning from a birthday celebration with a friend when they were approached by a man close to a derelict property.
The schoolgirl’s mother said the attacker approached her daughter from behind and tried to pull at her trousers before pushing her to the ground.
The distraught mother later branded the attacker “an animal” and “a monster”.
Police later confirmed they are investigating a “possible link” between the incident and reports of a separate sexual assault on a teenager in the Lagmore area the same evening.
SDLP councillor Paul Doherty said: “That’s the over arching message that we need to send to people, to have that awareness, to be vigilant, but also to go through the proper channels and report this to police.”
