Jack McKee, 74, pushed through a crowd throwing petrol bombs and setting homes on fire to reach two women trapped inside a house on Oakley Street. He spotted them – African migrants still in their care workers’ uniform – shaking in a corner as bricks smashed through the windows. Along with his daughter Paula, he helped carry them to safety. “They were so scared they were too weak to stand,” his son Jonathan told Metro. “We had to carry them out the back door secretly because the rioters were shouting, ‘Where are the migrants?’”
The family, who run a local church, had received a text at midnight saying a congregation member’s home was being targeted. They arrived to find the neighbouring property already on fire, flames creeping towards the women’s home from behind, while rioters hurled bricks and petrol bombs through the front. Jack said: “My family helped carry them out with the fire service and laid one of the women in the back seat of my dad’s car. This is life-changing for them. They can’t go home now.”
“Jack McKee, 74, dragged two terrified care workers to safety as far-right rioters swarmed their Belfast home.”
Elsewhere in Belfast, Jamie Corry watched from the street as his home on Lendrick Street was “completely destroyed”. Cars parked near his house were set alight on Tuesday night. “I came out and told them: ‘This is my property,’ and then they started to light the red car up,” he told the Press Association. “Once the flames started getting bigger, I moved away. The next minute the cars started exploding, doors smoking, windows melting, and then the house was going up.” Entering the property on Wednesday morning, he said: “It’s destroyed, top to bottom. I don’t know where to start. I’m just glad my family were at my missus’s house.”
Anselme Shima, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and living near Lendrick Street, said his three children were “very scared” during the disorder. “Whenever my kids were asking me: ‘Daddy, what is that noise? Where is that smoke from?’ We rushed to close the windows because of the smoke from the bus. My son was asking: ‘Daddy, are we OK?’ and I said: ‘Let’s pray.’ Now I’m asking: should I send them to school or keep them home? Seeing this, I’m wondering if I’m next. It’s a very scary moment.”
The violence followed widespread disorder across Belfast, with buses burned and homes torched. Protests were originally organised after a man, named locally as Stephen Ogilvie, was allegedly stabbed by Sudanese asylum seeker Hadi Alodid. At Belfast Magistrates’ Court today, Alodid was remanded for four weeks and charged with attempting to murder Mr Ogilvie, threatening to kill an NHS radiographer and possession of a knife. In London yesterday, around 100 Tommy Robinson supporters gathered in Parliament Square, ordering police to take the knee. Police and politicians have called for calm as further protests are planned on social media.