Twelve police officers injured in second night of unrest in Northern Ireland
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 Londonderry, 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.
In response to a second night of disorder, Mr Benn told LBC Radio: “Thugs burning people out of their homes because of the colour of their skin.
“This is not what Northern Ireland is about.”
He added: “Most importantly, the family of Stephen Ogilvie, who was so brutally attacked on Monday night, have said that they don’t want to see this.”
Hadi Alodid, 30, appeared in court on Wednesday, charged with attempted murder over Monday’s knife attack in which Mr Ogilvie lost an eye.
The reaction to the incident saw mobs set homes, a bus and cars on fire in Belfast on Tuesday, with people targeted based on their race.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) appealed for assistance in identifying individuals in images connected to Tuesday night’s disorder.
The force also urged those in the pictures to come forward to police.
Sudanese national Alodid was able to stay in Britain in 2023 after filling in a questionnaire rather than facing the standard interview, the Daily Mail reported.
Mr Benn told Times Radio the fast-track asylum scheme is no longer in operation, and asylum seekers are now “properly processed” in order for a decision to be made on whether they should be granted asylum.
A trade union secretary told the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster programme she believes paramilitary groups were “undoubtedly” involved in the Belfast unrest.
Patricia McKeown, a regional secretary for Unison, said many workers across the region had received threats since Monday’s knife attack.
She told the broadcaster: “Yesterday evening a nurse with a different skin colour was chased into the Ulster Hospital by four masked men.”
Ms McKeown said the nurse still insisted on working her shift, and has since been found alternative accommodation.
Leader of the DUP Gavin Robinson told the programme he believed there was “less” violence on Wednesday night than the previous evening.
Mr Robinson said he is against people “abusing our hospitality” and more needs to be done in “protecting” borders into the UK.
The sister of murdered MP Jo Cox urged people not to “create chaos” as she condemned the racist and violent scenes in Northern Ireland.
Kim Leadbeater said she understands anger at Monday’s knife attack but appealed for people not to “riot and cause more trouble and more problems”.
Published: by Radio NewsHub