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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Connor Lynch

Newtownabbey council candidate 'saddened and bewildered' to receive death threat

The Newtownabbey PUP has said that it is "saddened and bewildered" to hear of an active death threat towards one of its council candidates.

Macedon candidate Rosemary Bell-McCracken is understood to have received a threat on her life on the evening of Wednesday, May 10.

The Progressive Unionist Party has condemned the threat and has asked other political parties to come together against "hate speech, discrimination, harassment, or threat of violence," saying that such actions have no place in any society.

Read more: DUP candidate Darren Leighton informed by PSNI of a death threat against him

Newtownabbey PUP said in a statement: "Today we are saddened and bewildered to hear an active death threat was placed on our Macedon Candidate Rosemary Bell-McCracken’s life shortly before tea-time last night.

"Rosemary works tirelessly within the community through various voluntary roles and in her day-to-day work also. Her see it, act on it, mindset is to be commended.

"We implore all other parties to come together and condemn any form of hate speech, discrimination, harassment, or threat of violence. Such actions are unacceptable and have no place in any society.

"It is important to remember that everyone has the right to feel safe and be treated with respect. Differences in opinions, beliefs, and backgrounds should not be a reason to attack someone, either verbally or physically. Such behaviour not only harms the individual targeted but also damages the social fabric of the community as a whole."

A PSNI spokesperson said: "We do not discuss the security of individuals and no inference should be drawn from this. However, we want to reassure the public that we will take the appropriate action when made aware of anything that may put an individual at risk."

Superintendent Gerry McGrath, District Commander for Antrim and Newtownabbey, said: “The Police Service takes the safety of our election candidates extremely seriously and will continue to support them by providing crime prevention and personal security advice on an ongoing basis.

“We encourage all our elected representatives and candidates to immediately report any security concerns to police in order to keep themselves, their staff and members of the public safe.”

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