A Stormont committee has heard that recent disorder in Northern Ireland involved crimes clearly motivated by racist hatred. Mid Ulster MLA Patsy McGlone told the Justice Committee on Thursday that families had been driven from their homes, with a child as young as two months burned out, and a nurse attacked while travelling to work.

McGlone said the attacks were intended to force people from their communities and leave them living in fear. He insisted that those responsible must be brought to justice and that any sentence must reflect the hate element of the offending.

Northern Ireland does not have standalone hate crime legislation. McGlone argued that the upcoming Criminal Justice (Sentencing) Bill falls short of addressing this gap and warned that offenders could receive lesser sentences because their motivations are not given sufficient weight.

He called for robust legislation that properly punishes crimes motivated by prejudice and urged that effective policing be matched by laws that send a clear message. The committee was taking evidence from the Human Rights Commission on the bill.