A mother and her daughter (13) appeared in court today facing charges arising from serious public disorder in Ballymena, Co Antrim last week.
The disorder started on Monday after an alleged sexual assault of a girl in the town.
Two 14-year-old boys, who spoke to a court through a Romanian interpreter, have been charged with attempted rape.
While the schoolgirl is charged with riot on June 11th, her mother (39) was charged with child cruelty.
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The mother cannot be identified to protect the child’s identity from being made public.
Det Const Cooke told Coleraine Magistrates Court that according to the police case, her daughter was present along with “hundreds of others” causing damage to public and private property.
The girl was there for around two and a half hours during which time she was allegedly seen “throwing stones at the police in the Bridge Street area,” Det Const Cooke said.
He said on reviewing CCTV footage, her mother was allegedly identified as being present, , was “aware of her daughter’s involvement” and was “watching her throw items at police lines.”
Judge Peter King granted the defendant bail of £500, ordered her to reside at home, to be electronically tagged, to observe a curfew from 7pm to 7am and to stay away from any public protest of gathering.
The girl’s bail application took a lot longer as DC Cooke raised concerns about her being bailed to live with her mother. However, following a number of phone calls, police confirmed social services had “reservations rather than objections” to the defendant living with her mother.
The judge granted bail and the girl will appear at the Youth Court on July 2nd.
Two Co Antrim men also appeared in court charged with riot.
Bobby Rainey (23), a loyalist bandsman from Camberwell Way in Ballymena was charged with riot on June 10th and Det Const Cooke said he believed he could connect Mr Rainey to the charge.
Although defence solicitor Andrew Kinney did not apply for bail, he suggested that having seen an image of himself in a media appeal by the police, Mr Rainey had handed himself in.
Det Const Cook also confirmed that during police interviews, Mr Rainey admitted he was in the area but maintained he had not thrown anything and that none of his actions “could be construed as encouraging or taking part” in the rioting.
Judge King remanded Mr Rainey into custody until June 19th.
Martin Bruin Gamble (40), from Ard-na-Maine in Cullybackey, wascharged with multiple offences, all alleged to have been committed on June 9th.
DC Cooke said he believed he could connect Mr Gamble to each of the charges and He was remanded into custody to appear again on July 10th. - Additional reporting PA
