Man arrested after 15 police officers injured in violent Ballymena riots

A man has been arrested after 15 police officers were injured during rioting in Northern Ireland.

A gathering began in a park near Clonavon Terrace in Ballymena on Monday afternoon, to support the family of a girl who had been sexually assaulted.

But the initially peaceful event descended into chaos, with protesters setting fire to plastic road barriers and bins and smashing windows.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has said it ‘strongly condemns’ the disorder after its officers were hit with petrol bombs, fireworks, heavy masonry and bricks thrown in their direction by masked rioters.

PSNI said 15 officers were injured, some of whom needed hospital treatment, and two police vehicles were damaged.

A 29-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of riotous and disorderly behaviour, attempted criminal damage and resisting police. He is still in custody.

Several homes and businesses were damaged, with windows and doors smashed, and four houses were set alight leading to three people being evacuated.

PSNI said the four houses set on fire are being investigated as racially-motivated hate attacks.

The force also said authorised officers discharged one Attenuating Energy Projectile (AEP), also known as a rubber bullet, which hit one rioter.

The rioting began after two 14-year-old boys appeared in court charged with attempted oral rape. It reportedly took place in the Clonavon Terrace area on Saturday evening.

The boys appeared at Coleraine magistrates court on Monday via videolink from a juvenile justice centre, where they both pleaded not guilty.

A Romanian interpreter was in court to read the charges to both defendants.

They were remanded in custody until their next appearance at the youth court at Ballymena magistrates court on July 2.

Around 2,500 people gathered in the park before moving towards Clonavon Terrace.

The men, women and children marched along Larne Street and Queen Street – but the situation erupted into violence as fires were lit, a boat was overturned and homes vandalised.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus were seen forcing their way inside homes, in case residents were trapped.

Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said: ‘Last night saw significant sustained disorder in Ballymena. This violence was clearly racially motivated and targeted at our minority ethnic community and police.

‘I want to condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms. It has no place in our society and should be loudly condemned by all right-thinking people.

‘Last night, we made one arrest. Today, we are actively working to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.

‘Over the coming days, we will have in place a significant policing presence to help protect these communities in Ballymena and prevent any future disorder.

‘We are engaging with groups effected by the disorder to support and reassure them. I would strongly urge anyone who was involved in yesterday’s violent disorder to reflect long and hard about their actions, they will have consequences. I also appeal for calm over the coming days.

‘Anyone who has information or who can help identify those responsible is asked to contact police on 101.’

PSNI are also investigating another report of arson in the Tobar Park area of Cullybackey shortly after midnight on Tuesday.

A petrol bomb was reportedly thrown at a car, which then set alight and caused damage to a nearby home where a woman and two children lived.

There weren’t any reports of injuries, but it is being treated as a racially motivated hate crime.

Local MP Jim Allister said tensions had been growing over immigration in the area for some time.

Mr Allister, leader of the TUV (Traditional Unionist Voice) Party, said: ‘Within Ballymena there has been rising concerns about the sheer scale of migration into the town and that would have been a factor in the wholly peaceful protest.

‘All that to be distinguished from the wanton violence which then followed, with obviously a minority of that peaceful crowd wanting to take advantage of that to visit violence which wasn’t wanted or warranted, hence the scenes that we saw.

‘It is very distressing to see scenes of violence on the streets of Ballymena.

‘It is easier to start than to stop these things. There has been a bit of authorities not wanting to face up to the racial background of some of this over the years.

‘That unchecked migration which is beyond what the town can cope with, is a source of past and future tensions; that is the reality of it.

‘Those who came onto the street last night in the main had a perfectly legitimate purpose and cause of being there.’

Mr Allister said he had spoken to the girl’s family, and they said they did not want to see violence.

He added: ‘Sadly the narrative has been diverted, and it has been diverted by those who wrongly and foolishly involved in violence and made the story something that what it otherwise should be.

‘My message is the violence should stop. The concerns are there, I am certainly aware of them, I hear them and there needs now to be a period of calm and justice needs to take its course.’

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