London, 12 June 2025 (PA Media/dpa/MIA) - Petrol bombs, a hatchet and masonry were among items thrown at police during a third consecutive night of disorder in the town of Ballymena in Northern Ireland.

Several arrests have been made and dozens of police officers have been injured during the sustained unrest, which also saw multiple properties and vehicles set on fire.

Officers responded with water cannon, dogs, and plastic baton rounds in an attempt to disperse crowds in the County Antrim town.

The violence began on Monday night following an earlier peaceful protest, which was organized in support of the family of a teenage girl who was the victim of an alleged sexual assault in the area. Two teenage boys, who spoke to a court through an interpreter, have been charged.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has warned the rioting "risks undermining" the criminal justice process at the weekend.

Stormont ministers have also made an urgent appeal for calm and said the justice process had to be allowed to take its course.

Unrest spread to other towns on Wednesday, including Coleraine and Larne – where the leisure centre was set on fire by masked vandals who also smashed windows.

The facility had temporarily been used as emergency shelter for those in urgent need following disturbances in Ballymena earlier in the week.

In the town on Wednesday, the PSNI deployed riot police for a third night in a row as hundreds gathered around the Clonavon Terrace area.

Riot police with shields advanced on the crowd to disperse them down Bridge Street onto other roadways. They came under sustained attack as those participating in disorder hurled petrol bombs, masonry, and fireworks at police vehicles and officers standing nearby.

Rioters smashed the windows of a house on North Street and set multiple fires on streets in the surrounding area.

The disorder and stand-off with police continued past midnight.

The PSNI have also noted scenes of disorder in Belfast, Lisburn, Carrickfergus and Newtownabbey earlier in the week, as businesses, homes and cars were attacked and damaged.

By Wednesday, six individuals had been arrested for public order offences, and one charged.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he "utterly condemns" violence which left 32 police officers injured after the second night of disturbances.

First Minister Michelle O'Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly appeared together on Wednesday to voice their condemnation.

Little-Pengelly met residents in the town on Wednesday and said the local community is in fear and wanted the violence to stop.

"The key message here today is around that violence, and that the violence needs to stop, that's what the community wants to put across, and that's why I'm here to send that very clear and united message from right throughout the community and local residents for that to stop," she said.

Photo: EPA