He said: “I was completely stunned when I heard of this incident. The manner in which the criminals first purposefully crashed their car and forcibly removed the passengers must have been utterly terrifying.

“The actions of these criminals are beneath contempt. They showed no regard for the physical or emotional trauma they may have caused to their victims.

“It is a sad that the public are still targeted in this way.

“The entire community are rightly outraged and must now unite against these thugs.

“We must remain vigilant, look out for each other and work with the police to take these criminals off our streets,” added the Assembly candidate for Lagan Valley.