'A very kind individual’: Community urged to support Pizza Max franchisee after hate crime attack in Bushmills

The owner of Pizza Max, an Irish-owned food company with over 80 locations across Ireland and Northern Ireland, has issued a heartfelt appeal to the community for support after one of their franchise restaurants in Co Antrim was violently attacked in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

According to reports, three masked individuals with sledgehammers caused significant damage to the front entrance of the fast food restaurant in Bushmills before forcing their way inside and vandalising the interior. Fortunately, no one was present in the store during the incident, and it is not believed any items were stolen.

Company owner Liam Murphy expressed deep concern for the franchisee affected by the attack, describing him as “a very kind individual” and called for help in standing against ‘such disgraceful violence’.

“We are currently looking into the situation ourselves,” he told The News Letter.

"The franchisee involved has been treated unfairly. We are simply trying to run a good business and provide the local community with convenient and tasty food.

“The franchisee is a very kind individual who also operates two other Pizza Max franchise locations in Northern Ireland. Pizza Max is a fully Irish owned food company with over 80 stores across Ireland and Northern Ireland.

“We sincerely hope that the local community will support us in standing against such disgraceful violence. We also hope that those responsible will be brought to justice soon.”

Detectives are appealing for information and witnesses following the incident in Bushmills in the early hours of Wednesday morning which resulted in criminal damage being caused to the premises.

Detective Inspector Lavery said: “Shortly before 2.25am, it was reported that three masked individuals used sledgehammers to cause damage to the front door and front windows of a fast food restaurant, before entering the premises, and proceeding to cause more damage inside.

“It is not believed that anything was taken during the incident, and there was no one inside the premises at the time.

“We are treating this report as a racially motivated hate crime, and officers remain at the scene this morning, conducting enquiries.

“Anyone who may have any information which would assist us, is asked to contact detectives via 101, quoting reference number 107 of 18/06/25 or submit a report online using our non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/ You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org.”