THE ‘KILLER CLOWN’ craze involving people dressing up as clowns to scare members of the public has arrived on Irish shores.
Clowns have been spotted in Cork, Dublin and Belfast over the last few days, with two separate incidents at Irish schools reported yesterday.
Meanwhile in Northern Ireland, schoolchildren walking through Ballymoney’s Riverside Park were confronted by a clown brandishing a knife.
PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Stephen Martin warned: “I would advise anyone who may be considering posting information on social media platforms to consider what they’re saying.
“Encouraging behaviour that has the potential to generate fear or indeed posting threatening messages can lead to a criminal record.
“Crime is crime, whether in the virtual world or the real world and there are consequences. Please don’t get caught up in something that could jeopardise your future.”
The 'killer clown' trend began in South Carolina in the United States but crept across to Ireland and Britain over the past week.
Hundreds of incidents have been recorded of clowns deliberately frightening passers-by, sometimes whilst brandishing weaponry.
Youghal, County Cork, Ireland pic.twitter.com/S2y7x8MRKl
— Clown Sightings (@ClownSighting) October 9, 2016
Clown sightings being reported in Europe.
Dublin, Ireland pic.twitter.com/3guraQllaM— Clown Sightings (@CIown_Sighting) October 5, 2016
Cork, Ireland pic.twitter.com/t82Thp7qwL
— Clown Sightings (@ClownParanoia) October 5, 2016
The clown thing doesn't seem to work in Belfast. pic.twitter.com/Zy3f0zsKIl
— RMCK (@rmckband) October 6, 2016
Meanwhile over the weekend, Thames Valley Police - which covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire - said it had been called to 14 incidents across the region where people have reported being intimidated or frightened by others dressed as clowns.
Thames Valley Police stressed to date nobody had been reported injured due to these incidents, which took place in Bracknell, Milton Keynes, Abingdon and Chesham.
But Chief Superintendent Andy Boyd, head of neighbourhood policing, said: “While we do not want to be accused of stopping people enjoying themselves we would also ask those same people to think of the impact of their behaviour on others and themselves.
“Their actions can cause fear and anxiety to other people, this could be perceived to be intimidating and threatening which could lead to public order offences, arrest and a criminal record.
“In addition, their behaviour is causing multiple reports to our call takers and is tying up police resources which could impact on calls to other incidents.
“While we realise that reports of this kind are not restricted to the Thames Valley area, the issues of intimidation, potential arrest and waste of public resources are the same across the country and we would urge people to refrain from such activity.”
