Assembly was unable 'to fully identify' man involved in Sorcha Eastwood 'rape threat' incident at Stormont
Stormont security officials intervened in an incident involving Alliance politician Sorcha Eastwood – but were “unaware of the comments made” and were unable to identify the individual involved despite a review of CCTV, the News Letter has been told.
Last week, the Lagan Valley MP told the House of Commons that a member of the public “came up and said they wanted to rape” her during a school visit she was leading at Stormont.
She had first spoken about the incident to the BBC in 2022, but did not reveal at that stage the full extent of what the individual had said.
Assembly officials have told the News Letter that while security staff “observed the interaction” and identified that Ms Eastwood was upset and intervened, they were “unaware of the comments made”.
They also said that “given the speed” of the incident in 2022, and despite a review of CCTV “it was not possible to fully identify the individual involved”.
The incident was not reported to the PSNI by the assembly, because they were not aware “of the nature and severity of the comments made”.
Stormont officials say the assembly “encourages any elected representative who has been the victim of abuse to report it promptly to the PSNI”.
Last week, the PSNI said it had been in contact with Ms Eastwood to discuss what it described as “unacceptable comments made to her in 2022”.
Ms Eastwood has been subject to online abuse over her Commons speech, in which she also described herself as a “survivor of abuse”.
In a post on social media platform X at the weekend, she said the “last days have shown that there is a sick culture of victim blaming, a hierarchy of victims in some people's eyes and an utter depravity towards women in public life. But mostly, it shows that you will not be believed when you step forward. It shows that even when you bear your soul, it isn't enough”.
An assembly spokesperson said it is “committed to the security of its members and everyone who uses Parliament Buildings. The abuse of elected representatives, both in person and online, is totally unacceptable and the Assembly Commission encourages any elected representative who has been the victim of abuse to report it promptly to the PSNI”.