Surgery for Rathcoole attack officer
A trainee policewoman has undergone surgery after a large stone was thrown through the window of her patrol car in north Belfast.
The victim, aged 27, suffered glass cuts to her eye and a fractured cheek bone during Wednesday night’s attack in the Diamond area of Rathcoole.
She was sitting in the front passenger seat when the missile came through the window next to her.
Area Commander Chief Inspector Paula Hilman said: “What happened last night is in sharp contrast to what we all want in the estate.”
The chief inspector said the officer, who had only been in the police service for two months, underwent an operation and could be off work for months.
“To start out with an operation in hospital isn’t what either she or I anticipated,” she added.
“She has remained remarkably calm given the seriousness of what she has been through.”
She appealed for young people in a group of about 20 who witnessed the attack to identify the culprit, and for parents to keep an eye on their children.
