Girl aged 13 charged with riot by police investigating disorder in Ballymena

Five more arrests have been made, including a man in his 20s detained in connection with arson at Larne Leisure Centre.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland supported by its Public Order Enquiry Team is continuing to make daily arrests relating to recent disorder


Larne Leisure Centre was set alight causing significant damage during the racially-motivated disorder on Wednesday, 11 June.

Following a house search in Larne at the weekend, a man (25) was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life in relation to the fire at Larne Leisure Centre.

These arrests bring the total detained in relation to disorder across Northern Ireland in the past week to 28 – with more to come in the coming days and weeks.

Four were due in court on Monday, including a girl aged 13 who has been charged with riot by officers investigating disorder in Ballymena on Wednesday, 11th June, and a man aged 40, also charged with riot following the first night of the disorder in Ballymena on Monday, 9th June. A 33-year-old woman has been charged with child cruelty relating to the disorder.

Meanwhile, 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. He was due in Coleraine Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

Graffiti in Bangor and on an unoccupied house in Chadwick Street in south Belfast are being investigated as race-motivated hate crimes.

In Brompton Park in Ardoyne, around 30 youths set a wheelie bin on fire. No damage was caused to shops and, following engagement, no serious disorder ensued.

Assistant Chief Constable Melanie Jones said: “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.

“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.”

ACC Jones continued: “Our Chief Constable and other members of the senior team have been meeting with local community representatives of those affected over the weekend so we can support them as best we can and offer reassurance of our policing operation to restore calm.

“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.

“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. We have 64 of our colleagues currently recovering from injury and I commend their bravery and unwavering efforts.

“As our investigation continues, we have already released images of a number of individuals we want to identify and interview in connection with our ongoing investigation. In releasing these images, I am asking the wider community to step forward and help us.  It is in all of our interests, and in the interests of justice, that those responsible are dealt with and I would urge anyone who may have information to bring it forward.

“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.”

Photos and footage, including CCTV, mobile phone or dash cam footage, can be shared with police through the Major Incident Public Portal at https://mipp.police.uk/operation/PSNI25U11-PO1.

A report can be submitted online using the non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/ or you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/.

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