Pandemonium broke out in the Northern Irish town of Ballymena on Monday evening as clashes with police and fires were set after reports emerged that two Romanian-speaking teens had been charged with sexual assault.
On Monday, two 14-year-olds appeared in court facing charges of attempted oral rape of a girl in County Antrim. Though their names were hidden from the public, as is customary for those under the age of 18, the fact that they required a Romanian language interpreter in court was made public.
The pair, speaking through their interpreter, pled not guilty at the Coleraine Magistrates’ Court on Monday morning, appearing via videolink from the Woodlands Juvenile Centre, the BBC reported.
While a protest in Ballymena over the alleged sexual assault began peacefully, chaos broke out as the evening wore on. According to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), at least 15 officers were injured during significant “disorder”, with people throwing bricks, concrete, and petrol bombs at the police, the Irish Times reports.
Additionally, four houses were damaged by fires that were set during the outburst of violence.
Ballymena MP and leader of the conservative Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) party, Jim Allister, said that it was “very distressing” for the peaceful protests over concerns about migration to be “hijacked” by violent elements.
“Legitimate concerns about immigration must be heard, violence obscures the message,” he said.
“Violence wherever it comes from is wrong, but the context of this situation needs to be addressed, and the context is that there has been unhindered migration, particularly of people of Roma extraction into Ballymena, and that has been building tensions for years,” Allister continued.
PSNI 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… This violence has no place in our society and should be loudly condemned by all right-thinking people.”
ACC Henderson added that there will be increased police presence in the area to “help protect these communities” from further disorder.
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