Clean-up underway after riots in Creggan
A clean-up is underway after riots erupted in Creggan yesterday evening.
A crowd of around 30 youths attacked the police with stones, bottles, petrol and paint bombs at Cromore Gardens and Lislane Drive in Creggan shortly after 6pm. Rioting lasted until 10pm when the police finished their searches in Kildrum Gardens and moved out of the area.
It is believed that some members of the Creggan community were angry over PSNI searches of a home which they say started at 3pm and lasted until 10pm.
Rioting lasted for around four hours, from 6pm to 10pm when the police left.
Local Sinn Fein Councillor and Deputy Mayor Kevin Campbell says elderly residents in the area were terrified.
“It was a disgrace,” he said. “There were rocks, stones, bottles, petrol bombs and paint bombs being hurled around. There were pensioners sitting terrified in their homes, waiting for the windows to come in around them. The people who orchestrated this riot have no consideration for Creggan, for the community, for the elderly, for young children terrified in their homes.
“The community has to come first. The police were there to do a job. There is no need for this nonsense. I would urge whoever orchestrated this riot to get a grip and move on.”
