A MOTHER and her teenage daughter have appeared in court charged in connection with the disorder which erupted in Northern Ireland last week.
The 13-year-old was arrested and later charged with riot following incidents which erupted in Ballymena on June 11.
The girl appeared by videolink at Coleraine Magistrates Court yesterday afternoon (June 16), the PSNI have confirmed.
Her mother, who is in her 30s, also appeared in the same court charged with child cruelty.
The two are among the most recent arrests made by the PSNI in connection with last week’s violence.
They also include a man, aged in his 20s, who was arrested in connection with an arson attack on Larne Leisure Centre.
The sports facility was set alight during the race-motivated disorder on June 11.
“A man, aged 25, following a house search in Larne at the weekend has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life in relation to the fire at Larne Leisure Centre,” the PSNI confirmed.
“He remains in custody at this time.”
These arrests bring the total related to the disruption in Northern Ireland in the past week to 29 - with more expected to come in the coming days and weeks.
The violence, which first kicked off on June 9 and continued throughout the week, began to subside over the weekend, the police force confirmed.
“Our heightened presence in our local communities and continued community engagement to de-escalate violence continued on Sunday night, thankfully, similar to Saturday, the situation was much calmer,” Assistant Chief Constable Melanie Jones explained.
“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,” she added.
“I am asking for continued conversations amongst local families to deter young people from criminalising themselves.”
ACC Jones added: “Our Chief Constable and other members of the senior team have been meeting with local community representatives of those affected over the weekend so we can support them as best we can and offer reassurance of our policing operation to restore calm.
“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.
“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.”
See More: Arrests, Ballymena, Disorder, Northern Ireland, PSNI
