Police warn of further arrests as 28 held over violent race riots in Northern Ireland
Five further arrests have been made by police investigating the riots.
The disorder started in Ballymena on Monday after an alleged sexual assault of a girl in the town last weekend.Two 14-year-old Romanian boys have been charged with attempted rape.
Hundreds attend anti-racism rally after week of violence
A peaceful protest on Monday evening about the alleged assault was followed by attacks on police and properties housing ethnic minorities.
Police have said the latest arrests include a 25-year-old man who has been detained in connection with an arson attack on Larne Leisure Centre, and a 13-year-old girl who has been charged with rioting in Ballymena.
The leisure centre was significantly damaged following an incident in Larne last Wednesday.The 25-year-old man was arrested following the search of a house in Larne at the weekend on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life.The PSNI described the scenes as 'racist thuggery'. The disturbances in the Co Antrim town continued for several nights and spread to other areas of Northern Ireland including Portadown, Larne, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Londonderry and Coleraine.By Monday morning police said 28 arrests have been made in relation to the disorder, and they expect to make further arrests in the coming days and weeks.Four people were due to appear before court on Monday, including a 13-year-old girl charged with rioting by officers investigating disorder in Ballymena on Wednesday June 11.A 40-year-old man was charged with riot following the first night of the disorder in Ballymena on Monday June 9, and a 33-year-old woman has been charged with child cruelty relating to the disorder.Detectives investigating online posts relating to recent public disorder have charged a 32-year-old man to court.He has been charged with sending menacing messages through a public electronic communications network and with encouraging or assisting offences believing one or more will be committed.He is further charged with possession of a class B controlled drug, and was due to appear before Coleraine Magistrates' Court on Monday.Meanwhile, graffiti in Bangor and on an unoccupied house in Chadwick Street in south Belfast are being investigated as racially motivated hate crimes, and at Brompton Park in Ardoyne, around 30 youths set a wheelie bin on fire.Assistant Chief Constable Melanie Jones said 64 police officers were injured during the disorder, but said the situation is now much calmer.'Our heightened presence in our local communities and continued community engagement to de-escalate violence continued last night… thankfully, similar to Saturday, the situation was much calmer,' she said.'I issued a public plea to parent/guardians and families of young people who have been driving the criminal activity in some areas to warn them of the serious consequences of their actions.'I am asking for continued conversations amongst local families to deter young people from criminalising themselves.'Ms Jones said the chief constable Jon Boutcher and other senior members of the PSNI have been meeting with local community representatives of those affected over the weekend.'Everyone deserves to feel safe on our streets. So, just as we will seek justice for women and girls who report heinous crimes to us, we will also seek justice for local innocent families who are being targeted by criminality fuelled by hate,' she said.'We will continue to robustly investigate the disorder over the last number of days but do not want to see any more young people criminalised by being caught up in this activity.'Thankfully, none of our officers policing this disorder reported being injured on duty last night. We have 64 of our colleagues currently recovering from injury and I commend their bravery and unwavering efforts.'She also reiterated an appeal for information around images released by police of a number of individuals they wish to interview.'If you are able to identify any of the people shown in these images or can provide information about them you should contact us on 101 or on our major incident portal, which is accessible on our website,' she said.'I would also like to reassure the communities that we serve that we will continue to maintain our presence and protect streets.'We are grateful for the support of all who condemn this criminality and would, once more, repeat our appeal for calm across Northern Ireland in the coming days.'
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