Donal MacIntyre's car subject of neo-nazi vandalism
TV journalist Donal MacIntyre was the victim of a suspected neo-Nazi attack in Chiswick.
The former undercover reporter parked his car off Chiswick High Road to have coffee with a friend in Starbucks.
When he returned to the vehicle, it was covered with red paint and daubed with the insignia of the extreme right-wing Combat 18 group.
Film-maker MacIntyre – a former Chiswick resident – has been the target of death threats and a hate campaign since one of his investigative programmes led to the conviction of three Combat 18 sympathisers in 2001.
“The worrying thing is I’d only been away 20 minutes, so the police are wondering whether I’d been under surveillance or being followed,” he revealed.
“I was annoyed and upset, and I was rattled. And then my mate said, ‘Well, listen, if they were that determined, they would have waited for you to come back.’ So I thought – fair enough.”
His car was taken away by Chiswick police for forensic examination after the incident on the evening of Sunday January 22. “The first officer I spoke to didn’t know who Combat 18 was – and then a Sergeant sorted it out.
“Naturally, every part of London is CCTV’d – and, naturally, the place where the car was parked apparently wasn’t.”
Irish broadcaster Donal, 40, has since stepped up his own personal security precautions. “I’m a number one target for the far-right,” he said.
Chiswick Police are appealing for witnesses and information regarding this incident. The car, a blue estate was parked on Belmont Road opposite Belmont Primary School between 16.55 and 17.35. Anyone with information is asked to contact at Chiswick Community Support Unit on 020 8721 9104 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Last year MacIntyre was attacked by a man while running in Hampton Park, in an incident dating back to his investigation of football hooliganism and the Chelsea Headhunters for his 1999 BBC TV MacIntyre Undercover series. Three members of Combat 18 were later convicted.
At one stage his W4 home address was posted on a far-right website. But he has shrugged off the latest attack. “Although I’ve now left, I still love Chiswick. I thought my greatest sin would have been to park in a resident’s permit bay – so I probably deserved it.”
His latest documentary – MacIntyre’s Underworld: A Gangster’s Funeral – is screened on Five at 11pm on Monday January 30th http://macintyre.com/
January 26, 2006