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A West Belfast mum says she fears her son is going to be killed by gangs who have been targeting him for the past three years because of his sexuality.

Paula Devine, 52, revealed her son has been the victim of persistent and violent homophobic attacks at his home in the Ross Road area of the city.

In one recent attack, the 25-year-old was stoned by gangs as he walked back to his property.

"It's got to the stage now where I'm afraid they're actually going to kill him," Paula told Belfast Live.

"It started with slurs about six months after he moved in, the name calling, it's all homophobic abuse, once they found out he was gay that was it.

"He was seen as an easy target and it's just snowballed from then. It's all them wee hoods, you see the ones that are joyriding about the streets and they come from everywhere they're not even half from the area."

Paula described how just last night, her son was stoned as he tried to return home after visiting her.

She explained: "It's got to the point now where I just can't take no more, last night he left my house to try and walk over home and they stoned him, him and the dog in the street.

"So he came back but he wanted to go over to the house to get clothes and stuff to stay with me so I drove him over, and they tried to stone the car and we had to leave.

"We've loads and loads of police reports, and they've given plenty of referrals but unless they catch them there's nothing they can do and we don't know who they and even if we did know who they are you couldn't even name them, they would kill you.

"The windows have been put in at least five times in the last three years, he's been in the house a few times when it's happened. They got into it and spray painted that graffiti all over the front door a few months ago.

"When we went back over this morning, they had egged the windows. It's got to the point where it's normal to shout this abuse at him, they've shouted 'where's you're boyfriend, 'can you f**k my'... you know what, I'm just heartbroken, I cannot take anymore."

Fighting back tears the mum-of-three says she feels helpless that she or no-one else has been able to help her son.

She added: "The people that are over there and you see them, they're full of drink and drugs, and if a group of them jumps up and does something, they'll never even found out who done it, my son would be dead.

"I've tried for three years to get help and no-one is helping and what happens is these people walk away. They're not afraid to torture him, to shout at him, they just don't care, it's a living nightmare.

"This has been going on three years, I'm a very private person so I haven't spoken out before, we're a small family.

"I don't know what they want us to do, I just feel they're going to end up killing him and I'll just die.

"He needs out of there, they [Housing Executive] haven't even given him intimidation points or anything.

"The police have been back a few times to check on him, they did do as much as they could under the circumstances especially in that area but there's nothing they could do."

She continued: "I've got the point now where we're nearly afraid to call the police out anymore because they've been watching even round my house, I've been afraid to call them out.

"He needs out of there asap. But they [Housing Executive] have ignored us. He was in a hostel for four years before this and he came out of the hostel a vulnerable person.

"They wanted him to go to another hostel and it could be anywhere in Northern Ireland. They also offered him a flat in Lenadoon which is just too far away from my support."

Sinn Fein MP Paul Maskey has called for an immediate end to the attacks on the young man's home.

He told Belfast Live: "There have been ongoing attacks on this man’s property which are totally unacceptable and wrong

"These attacks need to end. Nobody should live under intimidation like this.

"I have been in contact with both the family and the Housing Executive in relation to this matter and we will have further meetings next week pursuing these issues."

A Housing Executive spokesperson said: “As a housing body, we have done absolutely everything we can in our powers to resolve the housing issues of our tenant.

“Our staff have worked closely with this family.

“In September of last year, we removed graffiti from the door of the family home, which was undoubtedly distressing, however we have not been made aware of further incidents of a similar nature.

“We also repaired broken windows and subsequent to last year’s incident, we provided additional support from both our own staff and external bodies.

“We have made offers of new accommodation in his areas of choice in West Belfast and these have been refused.

“We have also offered options in the private rental sector.

“However, it is difficult to see what the Housing Executive might reasonably do, as a landlord, to address the issue of alleged homophobic abuse in the local area.

“Our staff will continue to work with the family to help resolve their housing issues.”

A PSNI spokesperson said: "Police have investigated a number of incidents at an address on Ross Road in west Belfast this year, including criminal damage and anti-social behaviour.

"Police are treating these incidents as hate crimes. Police take hate crime very seriously and actively investigate all incidents reported to us.

"Police enquiries are continuing and anyone who has any information that can assist police with their investigations is asked to call 101. Information can also be passed anonymously via the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."