Police deploy water cannon on rioters in latest disorder after Belfast stabbing

WorldPolitics
11 Jun 2026 • 6:19 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

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Police deploy water cannon on rioters in latest disorder after Belfast stabbing

Police have deployed water cannons on protesters in Co Antrim after they were pelted with bricks in the latest disorder following the Belfast knife attack.

A large Department for Infrastructure vehicle was in flames as demonstrators confronted the police after they gathered near the Sandyknowes roundabout in Newtownabbey to the north west of Belfast.

Footage showed dozens of men dressed all in black and wearing face coverings gathering on Antrim Road, where they could be seen tearing bricks from properties and smashing paving stones with sledgehammers to create projectiles to throw at riot police.

They could also be seen taking wheelie bins from outside homes and lighting fires in them.

Balaclava-clad rioters also broke open a metal fence to access the Sandyknowes Wastewater Pumping Station and removed a garden fence to use as a shield against the police water cannon.

Videos shared on social media showed protesters attempting to march to the Chimney Corner Hotel, with riot police and several vans being deployed to manage the demonstrations.

Later on Wednesday night, rioters attempted to set fire to a property near a petrol station in the same area, with some throwing petrol bombs at police lines.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said officers deployed water cannons to maintain public order after missiles were thrown at police.

In Derry, police reported items having been set alight on the Ardmore Road.

Additional police officers are on the streets in the region following significant unrest on Tuesday night following the brutal attack on Monday.

Public transport was suspended and some schools closed early on Wednesday with fears of a second night of violence.

Earlier, Hadi Alodid, 30, appeared in court charged with attempted murder over Monday’s knife attack in which victim Stephen Ogilvie lost an eye.

Mr Ogilvie, who is aged in his 40s, is in a stable condition in hospital in Belfast, his family said.

It is understood he is in an induced coma.

The reaction to the incident saw mobs set homes, a bus and cars on fire on Tuesday, with people targeted based on their race.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer vowed to “crack down on anyone who is fuelling this division”.

Alodid appeared before Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday morning charged with the attempted murder of Mr Ogilvie, with threats to kill an NHS radiographer and with possession of a knife.

Hadi Alodid appeared via video link at Belfast Magistrates’ Court charged with the attempted murder of Stephen Ogilvie (Elizabeth Cook/PA) (PA Wire)

The court heard Mr Ogilvie lost his left eye and suffered deep cuts to his head, face and back.

District Judge Stephen Keown refused bail after hearing police concerns there could be “significant public disorder” if he was released due to “strong public feeling” about the incident.

The judge warned that anyone who plans to take part in further disorder in Northern Ireland should “be prepared to go to prison”.

In Westminster, security minister Dan Jarvis said: “Reports that ethnic minorities were targeted are sickening.”

The Prime Minister said the rioting in Belfast was “shocking and completely unacceptable”.

“It is clear that people were targeted last night because of their background and I will not tolerate it,” he said.

“Those responsible will feel the full force of the law.”

Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said 200 more officers would be on the streets on Wednesday night.

“We will deal with this,” he said.

“We will be on the streets tonight in numbers even more than we were last night, and we have got arrangements in hand to get mutual aid that will be arriving here tomorrow.”

The force said that following the recent disorder, “some social media users are posting address details online”.

“We have received phone calls from a number of families, house owners, neighbours and members of the wider community who are extremely distressed as a result of this reckless activity,” a spokesperson for the PSNI said.

“This is unacceptable. It is putting lives at risk and has to stop.

Burned out cars and houses on Lendrick Street in east Belfast (PA) (PA Wire)

“Anyone who shares personal information online with the intention to endanger others may be committing a criminal offence.”

Mr Jarvis told MPs more arrests would “surely follow”.

An 18-year-old man became the fourth person to be arrested, after a petrol bomb was thrown at two police officers during disorder in Carrickfergus on Tuesday night.

Police said one officer was taken to hospital for treatment while the other was treated at the scene.

The man was arrested on suspicion of riot at an address in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, on Wednesday.

Mr Ogilvie’s family urged people to stop sharing “false information on social media” about the attack, adding that they had been left “feeling disgusted” by the recent disorder.

In a statement issued by police on Wednesday night, they said: “We have witnessed a lot of false information circulating on social media which is now forcing us to clarify that our loved one is in fact in a stable condition, and we are solely focused on his recovery at this time.

“We have been left feeling disgusted by the scenes that unfolded yesterday across Northern Ireland in the wake of what happened. We want to make it absolutely clear that to do this in response is not supported by our family, and peaceful protest is only ever the way forward.

“We have many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country, including from within our healthcare system and hospitality sector, and we depend on them to make our country work.