A Newport election candidate has been left shaken after his house was apparently targeted days after his address was publicly posted on social media.
Michael Enea, who as the Conservative candidate lost out to Labour's Jayne Bryant in Newport West on Friday, said he was "shocked" after returning home from holiday at the weekend to discover someone had tried to force their way into his house.
Mr Enea, a local campaigner, posted photos on social media showing the back door of his house which appeared to have been damaged, as well as a hole which had been made at the top of the door.
"Someone had shared my home address on a Facebook live stream on Friday night," he said.
"I know it's in the public domain already, or it was during the campaign, but posting it on social media is a different thing.
"It could be a coincidence, but when I arrived back on Sunday afternoon after being away someone had tried to break into the house. They've had a bloody good go at it too. They tried to open the back door, and then they've put a hole through the top of the door.
"They've probably caused about £500-600 worth of damage as the whole door frame will have to come out."
Mr Enea said it hadn't been the first time he or other Conservative candidates had been targeted.
"In February we had eggs thrown at the house. We've also had nails in the tyres of the car.
"One of our other party members had messages sent by someone wearing a mask with the caption 'Kill all Tory scum'.
"It's sad really. I thought it was a good election by both us and Labour, it was democracy in full flow. I thought it was the most engaged people in Newport had been in an election in quite some time.
"I was shocked, my kids were shocked [at what happened]. You don't expect that on your doorstep.
"What annoys me is that neither post was taken down even after we reported them."
Mr Enea has already confirmed he won't be running again for the Senedd after he finished second to Ms Bryant on Friday, despite increasing his party's vote share compared to the 2016 election.
Speaking after the result on Friday night he said: “We are disappointed but we had a target of 10,000 which we hit. We had hoped Labour’s vote would drop but obviously they have increased theirs as well.
“I have to give credit where it’s due - Jayne fought a very good campaign, she was out at all hours of the day.
“I only ever ran as a one-off. It was a lifetime experience and I’ve enjoyed it but I won’t be putting myself forward for another parliamentary election.”
But he didn’t rule out running in the next local election.
“I am a local campaigner and am more interested in local politics and issues,” he added.
A spokesperson from Gwent Police said: "We had a call at about 4.10pm on Sunday, May 9 reporting an attempt burglary at an address in the Newport area where the door lock and handle were damaged.
"Enquiries are ongoing."
