Mother appeals for peace to live

Alene McFaul, who has lived at 97 Stevenson Park in Tullyally since October, said she leaped when she heard a loud bang and initially thought it was the children playing upstairs. She suffers from the rare endocrine disorder, Addison's Disease, one of the triggers of which is stress, and which can be fatal. The police are investigating.

Recalling her ordeal she said: "It was about 10.30pm and I was lying on the sofa watching the TV. Normally I close the blinds, but on Thursday night I told my oldest boy to do it and just at that there was a big bang. I nearly had a canary and thought something had happened to one of the weans who were upstairs playing. Then I heard a commotion outside.

"When I looked I saw three boys heading over into Currynierin using the field next to our house and when my oldest boy went outside one of the boys shouted back at him 'What about ye?'," she said, still visibly shaken by the incident.

Ms McFaul said one of the boys was wearing a white hoody-style top.

"From the way they were built I would say they were around 14 to 16 years of age, and I can say that with confidence because I have one boy coming up to 15 and a daughter of 11, a son of nine and another aged six. Because of my illness the children are protective of me and they thought the noise was something to do with me and came downstairs to see was I alright. That's how I knew it was nothing to do with the weans upstairs," she said.

Although Ms McFaul has lived in the estate for eight years, she has only lived at her current house since october. In all that time she says she has never encountered any problems before. Speaking to The Sentinel on Friday morning, she said it appeared that stones had also been thrown at the two houses next to her, one of which was occupied by an elderly couple.

"Because of the nature of my illness I am not supposed to be under any kind of stress and if I get bad I will have to be taken straight back to hospital. Everyone in this park knows that my weans are from a mixed relationship and we brought them up not to see religion as a barrier. What happened here is wrong and I want us to be left in peace," she said

A PSNI spokesman confirmed that police had been notified of an incident in which a front room window was smashed.

He said that the police were now appealing for information about the incident.

"Three youths are believed to have been involved in the incident at around 10.30pm on Thursday, May 6 and the number to call with information is 0845 600 8000. Alternatively, information can be given anonymously to the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111," he said.

Meanwhile, UUP Alderman Mary Hamilton utterly condemned the attack and told the Sentinel: "This woman has an illness and does not need this type of stress. I don't know what motive is behind this type of attack but I do know that the parents of these young people need to take more responsibility for their children."