A 12-year-old boy was yesterday remanded in custody charged in connection with street disturbances in Derry last month, writes George Jack- son in Derry. The boy appeared with four other male defendants, three of them 16-year-olds and the other a 30year-old man, before a special sitting of Derry's Magistrates Court. The five were each charged with taking part in a riotous assembly in Derry on July 13th. The adult, Mr Damian McGuinness, of Messines Park, was also charged with possession of a catapult on the same date.
Mr McGuinness was remanded in custody to Maghaberry Prison until September 5th. The four juvenile defendants were remanded in custody to a secure accommodation pending a bail application in the High Court. The 12-year-old's solicitor, Mrs Jane Corr, asked an RUC witness if it could not have been possible to charge her client with riotous behaviour rather than riotous assembly. The witness replied that in view of the seriousness of the offence and the likelihood of the youth re-offending, the more serious charge of riotous assembly was preferred. The resident magistrate said she was sure the 12year-old boy's solicitor could appreciate the difficulty of her position, and she remanded the youth in custody.