window.dotcom = window.dotcom || { cmd: [] }; window.dotcom.ads = window.dotcom.ads || { resolves: {enabled: [], getAdTag: []}, enabled: () => new Promise(r => window.dotcom.ads.resolves.enabled.push(r)), getAdTag: () => new Promise(r => window.dotcom.ads.resolves.getAdTag.push(r)) }; setTimeout(() => { if(window.dotcom.ads.resolves){ window.dotcom.ads.resolves.enabled.forEach(r => r(false)); window.dotcom.ads.resolves.getAdTag.forEach(r => r("")); window.dotcom.ads.enabled = () => new Promise(r => r(false)); window.dotcom.ads.getAdTag = () => new Promise(r => r("")); console.error("NGAS load timeout"); } }, 5000)
Skip to content

Scottish police sent to Ballymena after help plea

PA Media Police Scotland officers wearing hi-viz vests over black polo shirts displaying the name of the force in white writing on the sleeve.PA Media
Police Scotland officers have been deployed to Ballymena in Northern Ireland

Police Scotland has agreed to send officers to Northern Ireland after two nights of disorder in Ballymena.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) asked for extra under mutual aid arrangements following violent scenes in the County Antrim town.

The deployment will involve an undisclosed number of public order officers who are trained to police civil unrest.

A total of 32 PSNI officers have been injured since the protests over an alleged sexual assault began on Monday night.

The force's assistant chief constable, Ryan Henderson, said they would be "surging a significant number of extra officers" into affected areas.

He described the violence as "racist thuggery targeted at ethnic minorities and police officers".

Police Scotland previously sent 120 officers to Belfast last summer after a number of PSNI officers were injured during several nights of rioting and disorder in the wake of attacks on children in Southport, Merseyside.

The force confirmed the deployment, but declined to comment further.

Mutual aid agreements are uncommon and are generally "incident based," according to the National Police Chiefs' Council.

ACC Henderson said: "As part of my forward planning I have now activated the request for mutual aid resources from policing colleagues in Great Britain to ensure we have the necessary to maintain public order and bring offenders to justice in the days to come."

PA Media An overturned and burned car sitting in front of a row of houses in Ballymena. A police patrol car is parked opposite.PA Media
Two nights of rioting and disorder have taken place in the Country Antrim town

Protesters in Ballymena have targeted officers with petrol bombs, bricks and fireworks during disorder on Monday and Tuesday.

The first protest was organised hours after two teenage boys appeared before Coleraine Magistrates' Court .

They spoke through an interpreter in Romanian to confirm their names and ages. Their solicitor said they would be denying the charges.

The PSNI said there have also been sporadic incidents of disorder in Carrickfergus, north Belfast and Newtownabbey, where one man was arrested.

So far, one man, aged 29, has been charged with riotous behaviour, disorderly behaviour, attempted criminal damage and resisting police after Monday's violence.