Police Scotland officers sent to Northern Ireland amid disorder in Ballymena
An undisclosed number of public order officers will leave Scotland on Thursday after days of amid anti-immigration riots.
Officers from Police Scotland will be sent to Northern Ireland today amid anti-immigration riots in Ballymena.
The force has responded to pleas from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) for support following violent scenes in the County Antrim town. The deployment will involve an undisclosed number of public order officers who are trained to police civil unrest.
They will leave Scotland on Thursday. It comes after three nights of pandemonium in Northern Ireland following an alleged sexual assault in Ballymena at the weekend.
Two teenage boys, both aged 14, were charged with attempted rape following the alleged incident, which reportedly happened in the Clonavon Terrace area of on Saturday evening.
The pair pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempted oral rape at Coleraine Magistrates' Court on Monday morning.
They relied on a Romanian interpreter for communication.
By Monday night, the situation escalated dramatically with throngs converging around the town's police station and Clonavon Terrace - in close proximity to where the alleged assault happened.
Footage on social media shows protestors torching road barriers and bins as part of a barricade on the street.
It's understood that at least four houses were set ablaze during the disorder.
Unrest spread to other towns on Tuesday and Wednesday, including Coleraine and Larne – where the leisure centre was set on fire by masked vandals who also smashed windows.
Officers responded with water cannon, dogs and plastic baton rounds in an attempt to disperse crowds, however, they were met with petrol bombs, a hatchet and masonry.
A total of 32 PSNI officers have been left injured as a result of the ugly scenes.
Three teenagers have been charged following the disorder.
One man, aged 18, and two teenage boys, aged 15 and 17, have been charged with riot.
The 15-year-old has also been charged with criminal damage.
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn said: 'This not what Northern Ireland is about, this is not what we want the rest of the world to see.
'We all, as elected representatives, have a responsibility to seek to calm things down, to support those in the community trying to keep people safe, principally the PSNI, to work with community leaders to lower tensions.
'Whatever views people hold, there is no justification for trying to burn people out of their homes, that is what is going on, and that is what needs to stop because it is shocking and damaging, and it reflects very badly of the image of Northern Ireland that we all want to send to the rest of the world.'
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