CONDEMNATION AS PROTEST ESCALATES TO VIOLENT RIOTING

Police under attack and houses are set alight Ethnic community's fear amid 2nd night of unrest

- BY JONATHAN MCCAMBRIDGE and GRAINNE NI AODHA

SCENES of violence which left 15 police injured were "racist thuggery", a senior officer has said.

PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said the force would have a significant operation in place after the disturbances on Monday night in Ballymena.

And last night there was a second evening of disorder in the Co Antrim town while police also attended protests in Newtownabbey, Carrick and north Belfast.

Riot police were deployed around the Clonavon Terrace area after hundreds of people gathered. Fireworks, metal and glass bottles were thrown at officers.

A car was set on fire as part of a number of blazes started by protesters.

Police fired less-lethal rounds at some of those gathered and also used a water cannon to disperse the crowd.

On Monday night at Clonavon Terrace, several houses had windows smashed and two suffered significant fire damage.

The violence flared following an earlier peaceful protest in support of the family of a girl who was the victim of an alleged sexual assault in the town at the weekend.

Two 14-year-old boys appeared in court on Monday charged with attempted rape. The charges were read to the teenagers by a Romanian interpreter.

After the later protest turned violent, police were attacked with petrol bombs and masonry.

ACC Henderson said the attacks should be "loudly condemned by all right thinking people".

"Any attempt to justify or explain it as something else is misplaced," he said at a press conference at Ballymena police station.