Police come under attack during third night of disorder in Ballymena
By Jonathan McCambridge and Cillian Sherlock, PA
Petrol bombs, a hatchet and masonry were among items thrown at police during a third consecutive night of disorder in Ballymena.
Officers responded with water cannon, dogs and plastic baton rounds in an attempt to disperse crowds in the Co Antrim town.
Unrest spread to other towns on Wednesday, including Coleraine and Larne, where the leisure centre was set on fire by masked vandals who also smashed windows.
The facility had temporarily been used as emergency shelter for those in urgent need following disturbances in Ballymena earlier in the week.
Northern Ireland's Communities Minister, Gordon Lyons, who highlighted the use of the building in a social media post, said all those who had been staying at the leisure centre are in the care of the NI Housing Executive and have been moved out of Larne.
SLDP MLA Matthew O’Toole, the leader of the opposition in the Northern Ireland Assembly, said he would refer Mr Lyons to the standards commission following the fire.
Several arrests have been made, and dozens of police officers have been injured during the sustained unrest in Ballymena, which also saw multiple properties and vehicles set on fire.
In the town on Wednesday, the PSNI deployed riot police for a third night in a row as hundreds gathered around the Clonavon Terrace area.
At least one protester was struck by plastic baton rounds fired by police, while officers also used a water cannon on the crowd.
Officers also used dog units and drones in their response to the gathering.
Riot police with shields advanced on the crowd to disperse them down Bridge Street onto other roadways.
They came under sustained attack as those participating in the disorder hurled petrol bombs, masonry and fireworks at police vehicles and officers standing nearby.
Rioters smashed the windows of a house on North Street and set multiple fires on streets in the surrounding area.
The disorder and stand-off with police continued past midnight.
The PSNI have also noted scenes of disorder in Belfast, Lisburn, Carrickfergus and Newtownabbey earlier in the week, as businesses, homes and cars were attacked and damaged.
By Wednesday, six individuals had been arrested for public order offences, and one was charged.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he “utterly condemns” violence which left 32 police officers injured after the second night of disturbances.
PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has warned the rioting “risks undermining” the criminal justice process into an allegation of a sex attack on a teenage girl in Ballymena at the weekend.
Stormont ministers have also made an urgent appeal for calm and said the justice process had to be allowed to take its course.
NI First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly appeared together on Wednesday to voice their condemnation.
Sinn Féin vice-president Ms O’Neill told reporters in Belfast: “It’s pure racism, there is no other way to dress it up.”
Ms Little-Pengelly described the scenes in Ballymena as “unacceptable thuggery”.
With the protests focused in predominantly loyalist areas in Ballymena, Ms O’Neill said she did not believe it would be helpful for her to visit in the current context. DUP MLA Ms Little-Pengelly met residents in the town on Wednesday and said the local community are in fear and wanted the violence to stop.
“The key message here today is around that violence, and that the violence needs to stop, that’s what the community wants to put across, and that’s why I’m here to send that very clear and united message from right throughout the community and local residents for that to stop,” she said.
The violence began around Clonavon Terrace on Monday night following an earlier peaceful protest which was organised in support of the family of a girl who was the victim of an alleged sexual assault in the area.
Two teenage boys, who spoke to a court through a Romanian interpreter, have been charged.
