A STOLEN car has crashed in front of a poignant mural aimed at stopping so-called joyriding.
The car landed on its roof in broad daylight on Duncairn Avenue in north Belfast, just underneath a hard-hitting painting on a gable wall in memory of victims of car crime.
SDLP assembly member Alban Maginness last night said despite warnings about the dangers of car crime, "some people never learn the lesson".
The mural, unveiled almost a decade ago, depicts Tyler Watson who was seriously injured by 'joyriders' who killed his parents Charmaine and Justin.
It was one of three murals painted by artist Frank Quigley, whose son Rossa died after being hit by a stolen car in April 2003.
The murals were part of an anti-car crime campaign by community groups in north and west Belfast including Families Bereaved Through Car Crime (FBTCR), which was set up following the death of Ballymurphy teenager Debbie McComb in 2002.
The group campaigned tirelessly to keep their anti-car crime message in the spotlight and the mural on Duncairn Avenue has remained in place since it was unveiled in 2006.
The car landed on its roof just below the image shortly after 2pm on Sunday following a collision with another vehicle.
Police said a 26-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of several offences including aggravated vehicle taking.
A PSNI spokesman said the man was also suspected of driving when unfit and failing to remain at an accident.
"The arrest followed a two-vehicle RTC (road traffic collision) that occurred in the Duncairn Avenue area of north Belfast on the afternoon of Sunday August 30," he said.
"No-one was injured in the incident.
"The man has since been released on police bail pending further enquiries."
The anti-joyriding mural shows a woman kissing the forehead of an infant in a paediatric intensive care unit.
It reads: "The baby survived, his mummy and daddy didn’t. Joyriding. Where’s the joy?"
Mr Quigley created the mural after his son Rossa (24) died after being struck by a car on the Cliftonville Road in April 2003.
He had just been dropped off near his home by friends.
Malachy Delaney, from the Whiterock area of west Belfast, was jailed in 2004 for six years for causing death by dangerous driving.
The SDLP's Mr Maginness said despite numerous campaigns about the dangers of car crime, some people continue to ignore the message.
"Despite everything and despite all the exhortations and warnings about car crime, some people never learn the lesson," he said.
"The fact that this vehicle ended up upside down right under this iconic mural is in some ways poetic justice to those criminals who carried this out."
