Three in court on rioting charges

30 July 2011 Last updated at 16:08 GMT The three appeared over rioting in Ardoyne and east Belfast Three alleged rioters, including a 15-year-old boy, have been released on bail after appearing in court in Belfast.

Two of those who appeared on Saturday were accused of involvement in rioting in the Ardoyne area on 12 July.

The teenager was allegedly involved in trouble at the east Belfast interface.

Police have now arrested 27 people for involvement in the Ardoyne trouble. Officers came under attack from people throwing missiles following a contentious parade in the area.

The court heard that Joseph Rainey, 18, from Flax Street in Belfast admitted throwing missiles at police lines on two occasions in Ardoyne and had accepted that "his behaviour had been disgraceful".

District judge Amanda Henderson said she was only granting bail because of the accused's limited record and acceptance of guilt during interviews.

Ronan Kerr

Objecting to bail for the 15-year-old, who cannot be named because of his age, a detective constable revealed that when told to sign paperwork, he had replied: "Do you want me to sign this as Ronan Kerr?"

She also said that he had been involved in rioting at the same time last year and had also been questioned about other incidents in recent months.

The detective said the public had a right to be protected from the teen.

The judge said she would grant bail, but only because of his age and because an address in County Down had been put forward for the boy to go to live with his grandmother.

The teenager was ordered to be electronically tagged, observe a nightime curfew and not to wear a hoodie or baseball cap or other clothing that could conceal his identity.

The court also heard that Martin Brannigan, 25, from Monagh Drive in west Belfast had accepted getting a bus from his house to north Belfast to watch the riot.

However, he allegedly became involved and was identified on CCTV throwing masonry at police.

All three who appeared in court were also ordered to stay 500 metres away from any parade.

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'Under tens' rioting in Derry

13 July 2011 Last updated at 11:33 GMT A car was burnt in the Bogside area during the overnight trouble Police have said children as young as 10 were involved in rioting in Londonderry on Tuesday night.

Twelve people, including one woman, were arrested after petrol bombs and bricks were thrown at police.

Trouble broke out in the Bogside and Fahan Street areas, in Gobnascale and Ardmore in the Waterside, and in Strabane and Castlederg.

A 14-year old was among those arrested on suspicion of riotous behaviour.

A crate of petrol bombs was recovered in Fahan Street.

Chief Inspector, Jon Burrows, said children were involved in the rioting.

"I saw some very, very young children in the Bogside throwing stones at police. Children under 10," he said.

"That was running towards midnight. Still children under 10 years of age throwing stones at police and I have to say some adults were present and not intervening. That's very, very sad."

CCTV evidence

Chief Insp Burrows said the police would be using video footage to identify those involved in the trouble.

"The parade went very well, the return parade went very well. The violence that we saw was less than we saw in Belfast, less than we have seen in years gone by but it is still unacceptable that people are throwing petrol bombs at police, damaging their own communities and hijacking vehicles.

"I'm pleased that we made 12 arrests, I'm pleased that we got community co-operation and we have plenty of CCTV evidence, we will review that and anyone we can identify committing criminal offences will be pursued."

A Spanish tourist staying in the nearby Tower Hotel was lucky to escape injury.

"The young children attacked police. They threw a bottle across the wall and it crashed four meters (from us)," he said.

Foyle MLA Martina Anderson said the "orgy of destruction" in the Bogside was totally unrepresentative of the local community.

"Elderly residents living in Fahan Street, Joseph Place and the Wells were left terrified in their homes. Local people were fearful that the trouble could spiral out of control due to the large number of onlookers who had gathered in the area," she added.

Two burned out vehicles disrupted rush hour traffic on Wednesday morning as Derry City Council worked to clear the debris from the road.

Jim Roddy, the city centre manger, was at the clean up operation and condemned the violence.

"It seems very much as if it was an attempt to goad the PSNI into the area," he said.

"Thankfully the PSNI took up a watching brief and stayed out because I think if they had come in, the young people who were hanging about here may have reacted.

"For a lot of those young people it may have seemed like a lot of fun but for the people who live around this area, for the tourists who are going through this area today, and for most other people it's very, very sad to see such scenes again on our streets."

The trouble in Strabane was described as sporadic.

Shortly before 2300 BST petrol bombs and other missiles were thrown at the town's police station and at a police patrol on Newtownkennedy Street and Barrack Street.

A group of about 20 people threw stones at officers in the Orchard Street area and during the early hours four petrol bombs were thrown in Townsend Street.

In Castlederg, bricks and bottles were thrown at the police station at about 0100 BST.

Petrol, bricks and fireworks were recovered by police on the Lurganboy Road. A 20-year-old man was arrested and released on bail pending further enquiries.

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