Ballymena: Family of 11 migrants, including two-year-old child, hid in attic when home was broken into during rioting, court hears
A family of 11 migrants hid in an attic as their home was broken into during racially-motivated rioting in Ballymena, the High Court has heard.
Police disclosed that a two-year-old child was among members of the Roma community forced to seek refuge.
Six Filipino men also went into hiding when another house was looted on the same street, a judge was told.
Details emerged as bail was granted to a 40-year-old man accused of targeting properties when public disorder erupted in the town earlier this summer.
Martin Gamble, now with an address at Manor Street in Belfast, faces charges of riotous behaviour, burglary and criminal damage in connection with the unrest on June 9.
Police came under attack from crowds throwing fireworks, petrol bombs and masonry during three in trouble sparked by an alleged sexual assault on a schoolgirl in Ballymena. Several homes and businesses were also targeted during the violence.
Police claimed Gamble was among the main participants as houses in the Clonavon Terrace area were raided.
"One of the properties had a family of 11 Roma hiding in the attic, one of them a two-year-old child,” an investigating officer said.
"He then continued to burgle another property on Clonavon Terrace… where six Filipino men were hiding.”
The officer alleged: “He was quite persistent in the offending, there was rioting and specifically targeting houses where minorities were living.”
Defence counsel accepted the charges were serious but argued there was nothing to suggest Gamble would re-offend if released.
He disclosed his client is a father-of-five who has been diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia.
Granting Gamble’s application for bail, Madam Justice McBride imposed a curfew and ordered him to seek medical treatment for his mental health.
She also directed: “He is to stay out of Ballymena and is not to attend any protests.”