Further five arrests made by police investigating disorder
Police have said the latest arrests include a 25-year-old man who has been detained in connection with an arson attack on Larne Leisure Centre, and a 13-year-old girl who has been charged with rioting.
The leisure centre was significantly damaged following the incident last Wednesday.
The 25-year-old man was arrested following the search of a house in Larne at the weekend on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life.
The disorder started in Ballymena on Monday after an alleged sexual assault of a girl in the town last weekend.
Two 14-year-old boys, who spoke to a court through a Romanian interpreter, have been charged with attempted rape.
A peaceful protest on Monday evening about the alleged assault was followed by attacks on police and properties housing ethnic minorities.
The PSNI described the scenes as 'racist thuggery'.
The disturbances in the Co Antrim town continued for several nights and spread to other areas of Northern Ireland including Portadown, Larne, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Londonderry and Coleraine.
By Monday morning police said 28 arrests have been made in relation to the disorder, and they expect to make further arrests in the coming days and weeks.
Four people were due to appear before court on Monday, including a 13-year-old girl charged with rioting by officers investigating disorder in Ballymena on Wednesday June 11.
A 40-year-old man was charged with riot following the first night of the disorder in Ballymena on Monday June 9, and a 33-year-old woman has been charged with child cruelty relating to the disorder.
Detectives investigating online posts relating to recent public disorder have charged a 32-year-old man to court.
He has been charged with sending menacing messages through a public electronic communications network and with encouraging or assisting offences believing one or more will be committed.
He is further charged with possession of a class B controlled drug, and was due to appear before Coleraine Magistrates' Court on Monday.
Meanwhile, graffiti in Bangor and on an unoccupied house in Chadwick Street in south Belfast are being investigated as racially motivated hate crimes, and at Brompton Park in Ardoyne, around 30 youths set a wheelie bin on fire.
Assistant Chief Constable Melanie Jones said 64 police officers were injured during the disorder, but said the situation is now much calmer.
'Our heightened presence in our local communities and continued community engagement to de-escalate violence continued last night… thankfully, similar to Saturday, the situation was much calmer,' she said.
'I issued a public plea to parent/guardians and families of young people who have been driving the criminal activity in some areas to warn them of the serious consequences of their actions.
'I am asking for continued conversations amongst local families to deter young people from criminalising themselves.'
Ms Jones said the chief constable Jon Boutcher and other senior members of the PSNI have been meeting with local community representatives of those affected over the weekend.
'Everyone deserves to feel safe on our streets. So, just as we will seek justice for women and girls who report heinous crimes to us, we will also seek justice for local innocent families who are being targeted by criminality fuelled by hate,' she said.
'We will continue to robustly investigate the disorder over the last number of days but do not want to see any more young people criminalised by being caught up in this activity.
'Thankfully, none of our officers policing this disorder reported being injured on duty last night. We have 64 of our colleagues currently recovering from injury and I commend their bravery and unwavering efforts.'
She also reiterated an appeal for information around images released by police of a number of individuals they wish to interview.
'If you are able to identify any of the people shown in these images or can provide information about them you should contact us on 101 or on our major incident portal, which is accessible on our website,' she said.
'I would also like to reassure the communities that we serve that we will continue to maintain our presence and protect streets.
'We are grateful for the support of all who condemn this criminality and would, once more, repeat our appeal for calm across Northern Ireland in the coming days.'
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an hour ago
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Ballymena got what it wanted
Thursday evening. All quiet in Ballymena so far, after three nights of wrath. On the curb of Waring Street – just off Larne Street, which rioters tore through on Tuesday and left burning and beaten – sit James and Casper, both 16. James is wearing a balaclava with a Rottweiler's face printed on the front. Casper wears a hoodie. Opposite the boys, a woman is handing out signs for people to put in their windows which read 'LOCALS LIVE HERE', and down the road, on the corner of Henry Street and Railway Street, a man is pointing his phone at a row of parked police jeeps, and will expectantly livestream this scene to thousands of people on TikTok over the coming hours, as violence is predicted, feared and hoped for, but does not come to pass. The rioting began on Monday 9 June. That morning, two 14-year-old boys appeared in court charged with the attempted rape of a teenage Ballymena girl. They spoke through a Romanian interpreter and word spread that they were Roma Gypsies. As a result, the Ballymenans decided that they wanted all the Roma out of their town immediately. That night, and for two nights after, they attacked Roma homes and the police who defended them. 'It's been mad,' says Casper. 'Petrol bombs going off everywhere. Explosions everywhere. It's honestly hard to explain what's going on anymore.' Most of the violence occurred on seven roads where many Roma lived, and to go there now is to see the United Kingdom as a failed state. Houses are alternately burnt out and boarded up. Windows are fortified with stacks of furniture. 'Roma rapists out' is graffitied on walls. Residents of all nationalities make visual displays of their fealty to the UK with the aim of being spared a petrol bomb through their letterbox. From pretty terraced houses fly Union Jacks and other flags: the red hand of Ulster; the parachute regiment insignia; an NHS logo. These flags are not usually here. The patriotism forced by terror. 'There's really nothing to be worried about if you're local,' says Casper. Everyone in Ballymena says they saw the trouble coming a mile off. In a retail park across from a trashed up Bridge Street, I speak to Neil, a big guy, ex-army. 'This,' he says, 'has been coming for years. This place is swamped with people. People of the Gypsy persuasion. Women couldn't walk the street without feeling intimidated and scared. Three, four, five, six guys, they hang about in groups and gangs. You could see a parent walking down the street with a young girl, and you can see what they're looking at, and it's not the parent, it's the little girls that they're after. And it's not right. People have had enough of them. They really have.' Katie works for the NHS and has a teenage daughter. We talk, and on the road next to us the tarmac is scabbed and deformed from a fire started by the rioters on one of the recent nights. 'Girls have to feel safe in this town again,' she says. 'But I don't want anything to happen to my daughter or her Romanian friends. It's just… There's a certain sort of foreign national… They are very dangerous. It's the way they've been brought up. You can understand why people are so cross. I knew this was going to happen.' I walk through Ballymena with a Filipino man called Leonard who works in a care home. He has two boys, 15 and nine, and is worried that locals will turn on his family. 'I didn't want to go out because of my skin,' he says. He is wearing a cap and sunglasses. 'MOVE MOVE MOVE MOVE MOVE!' On Friday night I am on West Street in Portadown, 40 miles south of Ballymena, where the wrath has come. Police with dogs are running at us, and we retreat fast. People gathered here at 7 p.m., and at around 10 p.m. a kid turned up with what can only be described as a firework machine gun. He shot it straight at the line of officers. That got things going. Police are trying to block access to a footbridge which connects the western to the eastern part of the town, where illegal immigrants are apparently living in HMOs. Portadown burns, but in Ballymena many people are happy We escape the dogs to a new position in an alleyway between West Street and Union Street. Me and some children. Adults are watching – many have brought drinks and a few are pushing prams with babies – but it's little kids in balaclavas doing the rioting. In the cover of the alley an armoury emerges. The children rip up slabs of pavement and throw them at the ground to make smaller rocks. Twelve-year-olds prepare molotov cocktails and put them in their back pocket. The air stinks of petrol. The kids source more fireworks and share war stories about last night's riot. One child says he was hit by a rubber bullet: 'It's like a fucking dildo hit me at 70 miles an hour!' I wonder how much they care about immigration. And where are their parents? One kid charges at the police for some close-range action. He gets too near and the police grab him. 'Was it Ruben?! Where's Ruben??' say his friends. Away from the frontlines, boys and girls who have made themselves up for this evening of fun are flirting away. 'Did you see the boy with the big firework yesterday?' says a grinning teenage boy. Some high-ranking kid tells the dossers to focus: 'We're on the attack! Guys, come on! Move forward! Do something!' A child unveils another firework machine gun, but accidentally holds it backwards and empties the rockets into the observing crowd. Portadown burns, but in Ballymena many people are happy. I return to the town and cannot find Casper and James, which must be a good sign. There are still riot police around, and on Queen Street a woman is getting her living room window replaced, but the pubs are busy and jolly. At the Railway Tavern they play old loyalist songs on a karaoke machine: Free, free, I just want to be As free as the wind and the rain and the sea. Free, free, I just want to be Out where the rivers run free. Together again, We'll fight as young men, As our forefathers did in the great days of yore.
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Leader Live
5 hours ago
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Further five arrests made by police investigating disorder
Police have said the latest arrests include a 25-year-old man who has been detained in connection with an arson attack on Larne Leisure Centre, and a 13-year-old girl who has been charged with rioting. The leisure centre was significantly damaged following the incident last Wednesday. The 25-year-old man was arrested following the search of a house in Larne at the weekend on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life. The disorder started in Ballymena on Monday after an alleged sexual assault of a girl in the town last weekend. Two 14-year-old boys, who spoke to a court through a Romanian interpreter, have been charged with attempted rape. A peaceful protest on Monday evening about the alleged assault was followed by attacks on police and properties housing ethnic minorities. The PSNI described the scenes as 'racist thuggery'. The disturbances in the Co Antrim town continued for several nights and spread to other areas of Northern Ireland including Portadown, Larne, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Londonderry and Coleraine. By Monday morning police said 28 arrests have been made in relation to the disorder, and they expect to make further arrests in the coming days and weeks. Four people were due to appear before court on Monday, including a 13-year-old girl charged with rioting by officers investigating disorder in Ballymena on Wednesday June 11. A 40-year-old man was charged with riot following the first night of the disorder in Ballymena on Monday June 9, and a 33-year-old woman has been charged with child cruelty relating to the disorder. Detectives investigating online posts relating to recent public disorder have charged a 32-year-old man to court. He has been charged with sending menacing messages through a public electronic communications network and with encouraging or assisting offences believing one or more will be committed. He is further charged with possession of a class B controlled drug, and was due to appear before Coleraine Magistrates' Court on Monday. Meanwhile, graffiti in Bangor and on an unoccupied house in Chadwick Street in south Belfast are being investigated as racially motivated hate crimes, and at Brompton Park in Ardoyne, around 30 youths set a wheelie bin on fire. Assistant Chief Constable Melanie Jones said 64 police officers were injured during the disorder, but said the situation is now much calmer. 'Our heightened presence in our local communities and continued community engagement to de-escalate violence continued last night… thankfully, similar to Saturday, the situation was much calmer,' she said. 'I issued a public plea to parent/guardians and families of young people who have been driving the criminal activity in some areas to warn them of the serious consequences of their actions. 'I am asking for continued conversations amongst local families to deter young people from criminalising themselves.' Ms Jones said the chief constable Jon Boutcher and other senior members of the PSNI have been meeting with local community representatives of those affected over the weekend. 'Everyone deserves to feel safe on our streets. So, just as we will seek justice for women and girls who report heinous crimes to us, we will also seek justice for local innocent families who are being targeted by criminality fuelled by hate,' she said. 'We will continue to robustly investigate the disorder over the last number of days but do not want to see any more young people criminalised by being caught up in this activity. 'Thankfully, none of our officers policing this disorder reported being injured on duty last night. We have 64 of our colleagues currently recovering from injury and I commend their bravery and unwavering efforts.' She also reiterated an appeal for information around images released by police of a number of individuals they wish to interview. 'If you are able to identify any of the people shown in these images or can provide information about them you should contact us on 101 or on our major incident portal, which is accessible on our website,' she said. 'I would also like to reassure the communities that we serve that we will continue to maintain our presence and protect streets. 'We are grateful for the support of all who condemn this criminality and would, once more, repeat our appeal for calm across Northern Ireland in the coming days.'
