Twelve police officers injured in second night of unrest in Northern Ireland
By Press Association Reporters
Twelve police officers were injured and 16 arrests were made in the second night of unrest in Northern Ireland following the Belfast knife attack, Hilary Benn has said.
The Northern Ireland Secretary said he was “glad to say that last night there was less disorder than we witnessed on Tuesday night”, as he condemned the “racist thuggery” seen in the wake of Monday’s stabbing assault which left the victim in hospital.
Police used water cannons on rioters, as officers were pelted with bricks and petrol bombs by balaclava-clad rioters in Co Antrim on Wednesday evening.
A Department for Infrastructure vehicle was left in flames as rioters confronted police near the Sandyknowes roundabout in Newtownabbey to the north west of Belfast.
Footage showed dozens of men dressed all in black and wearing face coverings gathering on Antrim Road, where they could be seen tearing bricks from properties and smashing paving stones with sledgehammers to create projectiles to throw at police.
Rioters attempted to set fire to a derelict property near a petrol station in Newtownabbey, with some throwing petrol bombs at police lines.
They could also be seen taking wheelie bins from outside homes and lighting fires in them.
In Derry, police reported items having been set alight on the Ardmore Road.
The family of the victim Stephen Ogilvie said they were “disgusted” by the disorder.
Hadi Alodid, 30, appeared in court on Wednesday, charged with attempted murder over Monday’s knife attack in which Ogilvie lost an eye.
