Cabin Hill School on the Upper Newtownards Road was attacked in the early hours of Sunday morning by arsonists
School attack condemned
Thursday, May 08, 2008
ARSONISTS who torched the outbuildings of an east Belfast school were
blasted for their “dim witted act” following a weekend attack.
The blaze, described by police as “malicious” ripped through the two
outhouses behind Cabin Hill School on the Upper Newtownards Road at around
1am on Sunday.
The prep school, which shares its grounds with Campbell College, is now
thousands of pounds out of pocket after the two buildings were gutted by the
fire.
It is the third consecutive attempt to burn down an east Belfast school in
the last few months. Orangefield High School and Strandtown Primary School
also suffered extensive damage from arson attacks.
East Belfast MLA Robin Newton slammed the arsonists.
“In condemning this dim-witted act I am calling on anyone who has
information to contact the PSNI so that those who are responsible can be
brought be
fore the court,” said Mr Newton.
“There is a considerable amount of low level vandalism in the east of the
city but this increased level of senseless vandalism is extremely worrying.
“Cabin Hill School has a long history of providing an excellent education
for pupils. In the
current political education debate this school has an important part to play
in offering education choice in east Belfast.
“Those who carry out such stupid and pointless acts of vandalism have
nothing to offer their community and must be caught and punished before the
vandalism escalates.”
No-one was injured when the disused buildings at the rear of the prep school
caught fire.
Michael Graham, from the Fire and Rescue Service, said it took six fire
crews to bring the “well established” blaze under control.
“Six appliances were tasked to the scene and our initial concerns were that
the fire would spread to other properties in the grounds,” said Mr Graham.
“Our firefighters managed to get the fire under control pretty quickly so we
scaled down the operation to three appliances, one of which was aerial.”
Mr Graham said in his opinion the fire was started deliberately.
