Northern Ireland: Police blame teenagers and criminal gangs for nightly riots

Five officers injured after being pelted with bricks and petrol bombs

A man walks past a burning car that was hijacked by Loyalists at the Cloughfern roundabout in Newtownabbey (Peter Morrison/PA)

Teenagers and criminal gangs have been blamed for a third night of violence in Northern Ireland after Protestant youths started fires and pelted officers with bricks and petrol bombs.

Northern Ireland police (PSNI) has appealed for community leaders to put a stop to the disorder and violence.

Five police officers were injured Sunday night, bringing the total number of police injured in attacks in Derry and Belfast over Easter weekend to 32.

Over the past week, tensions in predominantly unionist communities have spilled over into violence, with petrol bombs being thrown at PSNI officers and bins and pallets set on fire.

Speaking on Monday, PSNI Chief Superintendent Davy Beck said police stand ready for another night of unrest, but urged community leaders to put a stop to it.

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He said: “Right now as we speak, my officers are in those areas, they’re working hard to provide those police services. Be that in respect of crime, be that in terms of road safety, be that in terms of others concerns in the community.

“I will have additional resources available to me and we will respond to whatever may develop.

“But there’s an opportunity to stop this. This doesn’t have to be a third night of trouble in the Cloughfern and Newtownabbey/Carrickfergus area.

“I would encourage people with influence in those communities to put a stop to this.”

Chief Supt Davy said the attacks were “clearly orchestrated”.

He added: “I believe that there’s a small group of disaffected criminal elements that are clearly involved in influencing young people, and I would appeal to young people in those areas not to allow this to happen.”

“I think it’s also fair to say that there’s probably no coincidence to this. We have been successful in that area in respect on some of these criminal gangs.

“So I think that this perhaps has been a reaction from some of those people who are involved in criminality.”

Asked if he thought the South Antrim UDA were behind the attacks, he replied: “As I said, I believe that this is a group of disaffected criminal gangs and we will investigate that.

“We will review all our footage. We will review all the information coming in, in terms of who has been involved.”

Children as young as 12 have been involved in some of the incidents that have taken place over the weekend, police said.

Chief Supt Davy said: “What concerns me most are the young people who are being suckered in to this type of behaviour.

“So again I would appeal to parents to think about where their young people are, think about who they’re with.

“And try and have a conversation with them and encourage them not to get involved, not to get sucked in and not to be used in this way.

“Because effectively, that’s what’s happening. They’re being used by other elements within the community.”

Loyalist tensions have increased in recent months over post-Brexit trading arrangements, which are claimed to have created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Frustrations mounted last week following a controversial decision not to prosecute 24 Sinn Fein politicians who attended a large-scale republican funeral during Covid-19 restrictions.