Man injured in van brick attack

The windscreen of the van was shattered by a brick

A second motorist has been injured after a brick shattered the windscreen of his van in County Down.

It is the fourth similar attack in the area in the past week.

Dominic Lennon suffered cuts to the head after a brick was thrown from a passing car on the road between Ards and Greyabbey at 1940 GMT on Wednesday.

The attack came days after taxi driver Jackie Anderson was seriously injured after a brick was thrown at his car window on the Portaferry Road.

Councillor Joe Boyle from Portaferry believes the same people are responsible.

The brick which hit Mr Lennon's van was thrown out of a moving vehicle passing in the other direction at a bend in the road.

The windscreen was shattered but he managed to pull into the entrance of Mount Stewart.

The victim's wife, Deborah Lennon, was travelling two cars ahead of her husband when the attack happened.

She found Mr Lennon with blood running down the back of his head and his face.

Mrs Lennon said she is still afraid to drive along that road.

"You almost close your eyes, waiting for it to happen now. Whatever way you look at it, as far as I'm concerned it is attempted murder," she said.

It is understood that the PSNI are putting registration readers along that stretch of road in order to catch the culprits.

Jackie Anderson suffered severe head and facial injuries, and is facing reconstructive surgery after a brick was thrown through his taxi window on 1 March.

It was the third incident within hours.

A family, which escaped injury in a similar attack a short time later, found Mr Anderson semi-conscious.

There was another attack on a woman driving on the road more than an hour earlier.