A 17-YEAR-OLD youth was remanded in custody yesterday charged in connection with Twelfth of July rioting in north Belfast. He handed himself in to police following press publication of pictures of those suspected of involvement in the trouble at Ardoyne.
The youth, who cannot be identified, faces charges of riotous assembly and possession of an offensive weapon, namely a golf club.
The teenager is also accused of riotous behaviour and a further count of having an offensive weapon over a separate incident at Clifton Park Avenue in the city on May 20th.
No application for bail was made as he appeared before Belfast Youth Court.
He was remanded in custody to appear again next month.
Meanwhile, a 15-year-old boy charged with riotous assembly at Ardoyne was brought back to court yesterday for an alleged breach of bail.
He was to be subjected to electronic monitoring and a night-time curfew as part of his release conditions.
But a police constable told Belfast Youth Court that when a security firm called at his home on Thursday night to install the tagging device, no one answered the door.
A lawyer for the boy said he had only just been released from hospital after being treated for injuries sustained in an alleged assault. The court was told the youth and his mother were “exhausted”, went to bed and simply did not hear anyone at their door.
Although the judge held there had been a technical breach, he ruled the suspect could be released again under the same bail conditions.