Teenager injured in park firework attack

Teenager injured in park firework attack

20 June 2012 - by BY DAVID TELFORD

A TEENAGER’S contact lenses prevented her from being blinded after a firework exploded beside her.

The 17 year-old student was eating lunch with friends at the Grove in Downpatrick last Wednesday when the shocking incident occurred.

The girl’s GP said the contact lenses shielded her eyes from the impact of the exploding firework which left her with burn marks on her lip and nose. Her hair and scalp was also burnt by the exploding firework.

The mother of the South Eastern Regional College student has described what happened as “despicable” and said her daughter is extremely fortunate she wasn’t blinded.

The woman, who asked that she and daughter are not identified, said a group of boys wearing baseball caps were close to her daughter in the Grove when one of the boys threw a banger at the 17 year-old before laughing and running off.

“The banger went off in my daughter’s face and she felt intense heat. There was smoke coming out of her hair which was on fire and someone with her reacted quickly and threw a bottle of water over her.

“My daughter could feel her face and lips burning and some of her friends who saw two policemen in the area ran over and told them what had happened. But by this time the boys who were in the Grove had gone.”

The concerned mother said her daughter did not go to hospital but went to her GP who noticed scorch damage on the student’s contact lenses.

“He informed me the contact lenses prevented my daughter from losing her sight. The GP advised me to put ice on my daughter’s lip and nose which did help, but the ferocity of the firework exploding in her face left her with blisters. She also had to go to the hairdressers to have the burnt part of her hair shaved off,” her mum explained.

She added: “I am so angry. This has been a nightmare for all of us. You wouldn’t do this sort of thing to an animal. On a number of occasions I have noticed a crowd of boys wearing baseball caps causing trouble at the bus station close to the Grove.

“I have seen them throw things at passengers and place bangers in eggs which they then light and thrown in the air. This issue needs to be addressed, if not, someone is going to be seriously injured.”

A PSNI spokeswoman said while no formal complaint has been made to police, officers are aware of the incident in the Grove last week.

“Police strongly condemn the misuse of fireworks and would remind members of the public of the potential dangers fireworks can cause, including serious injury and damage to property,” said the spokeswoman.

“It is an offence to throw fireworks in the street or other public places and police would urge parents to speak to their children about the dangers associated with them.”

Police are also urging anyone with information about last week’s incident or the illegal supply of fireworks to contact the PSNI’s Neighbourhood Policing Team in Downpatrick, telephone 0845 600 8000.