Distretto NordRiot

11 luglio 2011: due giovani arrestati per i riot di North Belfast

Belfast rioter ‘acted the idiot’

A 19-year-old accused of being among the main instigators of serious Eleventh Night rioting in north Belfast has accepted he “acted the idiot”, a court has heard.

Riot a North BelfastPolice said James Brophy, from Pilot Street in the city, was identified from CCTV footage of the violence which broke out close to the New Lodge area.

“From viewing CCTV of the public disorder that took place on the Eleventh, it would appear that the defendant wasn’t just taking part – he was one of the main instigators,” the police officer who connected him to the charges told Belfast Magistrates’ Court.

Brophy faces charges of riotous assembly and possessing and throwing a petrol bomb.

He’s also accused of assaulting a man and threatening to criminally damage his home.

Defence solicitor Billy McNulty rejected claims that his client organised the street disorder.

He said Brophy was not wearing a mask the footage, arguing that anyone who orchestrated the rioting would have hid their identity.

Mr McNulty told the court the accused went to police voluntarily and accepted his involvement. He does, however, deny the charge of threatening criminal damage.

“It’s quite clear (from the CCTV) that he has a bottle of beer, swigging from it,” the lawyer said. “He accepted he was drunk and, in his own words, he was acting the idiot.

“But to say he was the orchestrator or a prime-mover in this riot, I would take issue with.”

District Judge George Conner said that the instigators rarely ended up before the courts.

He said: “They generally manage to hide themselves away and manipulate others… to act on their behalf.”

But Judge Conner repeated his warning that those involved in rioting can expect to be jailed.

Brophy was refused bail and remanded back in custody to appear via video-link next month.

Meanwhile, an 18-year-old man has been arrested on Thursday over serious disorder on July 11.

He is helping police with their inquiries.

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René Querin

Di professione grafico e web designer, sono appassionato di trekking e innamorato dell'Irlanda e della sua storia. Insieme ad Andrea Varacalli ho creato e gestisco Les Enfants Terribles.

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