J609-IRLANDA DEL NORTE DISTURBIOS

STORY: Rioters attacked police and set fires in the streets of Northern Ireland's Ballymena on Wednesday (June 11) evening as violence erupted in different parts of the country for a third successive night.

Police deployed water cannon against the crowd for the second successive night but the clashes were nothing like the previous night that left 17 officers injured and led to five arrests.

The violence flared on Monday (June 9) after two 14-year-old boys were arrested and appeared in court earlier that day, accused of a serious sexual assault on a teenage girl in the town.

The charges were read via a Romanian interpreter to the boys, whose lawyer told the court that they denied the charge, the BBC reported. Police are investigating the damaging of properties on Monday and Tuesday (June 10) in Ballymena, which has a relatively large migrant population, as racially-motivated hate crimes.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

VIDEO SHOWS: POLICE AND DEMONSTRATORS STANDING OFF AND CLASHING IN BALLYMENA / WATER CANNONS BEING USED / DEMONSTRATORS SETTING FIRE / DRONE SHOTS OF AREA

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: BALLYMENA, NORTHERN IRELAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JUNE 11, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATORS GATHERING IN FRONT OF LINE OF POLICE VEHICLES AT BALLYMENA STATION

2. VARIOUS OF POLICE OFFICERS STANDING NEXT TO VEHICLES

3. POLICE OFFICERS WALKING NEAR VEHICLES / ROCKS BEING THROWN AT OFFICERS AND LANDING ON STREET

4. POLICE OFFICERS STANDING BEHIND VEHICLES AS ROCKS ARE THROWN AT THEM

5. VARIOUS OF POLICE USING WATER CANNONS ON DEMONSTRATORS

6. PROTESTERS RUNNING AWAY FROM WATER CANNON STREAM, ANOTHER PROTESTER SEATED ON GROUND GESTURING AT POLICE

7. VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS WALKING AND GESTURING IN FRONT OF FIRE

8. FIRE BURNING ON STREET

9. POLICE OFFICERS AND VEHICLES ON EMPTY STREET

10. SHUTTERED ENTRANCE, WINDOW OF HOUSE