"I wish the person would have the guts to face me" - Briege Roe

By Iveren McCallion

A mother whose teenage son was the target of a hate crime has said she's barely left her home since it happened.

Briege Roe, whose son Patrick is mixed race, woke on Sunday morning to find racist graffiti spray-painted on the walls of her Forkhill property.

She told Q Radio about her shock when she discovered the message "N****r out" early that morning.

"When I woke up I saw a flowerpot lying, and at the bottom of it is rocks, so I knew there was no wind. But I could see this wall, so I just had to hold on - I couldn't breathe so I had to hold onto the walls. I just felt like someone had put a knife right through me", she said.

"You know my heart was like, just felt like... a hurt... one of the worse hurts I've ever felt."

When she regathered herself, Briege tried to find a way to cover the graffiti before Patrick woke and saw it. She couldn't find paint in the shed so called the police and asked them to come before he saw it. They arrived within minutes.

The PSNI have confirmed that they're treating the incident as a hate crime. It's believed the culprit is an adult.

Fourteen year-old Patrick says the incident hadn't sunk in with him at the time but he now wants CCTV at the house:

Briege hasn't slept properly since the incident, but says her friends and neighbours have "kept her alive" with their support. They paid for paint and a group painted over the racist message.

She told Q Radio the incident has left her sleepless and deeply hurt: