‘Poppy burning’ teen trio in court

THREE teenagers have appeared in court over the alleged burning of a Remembrance Day poppy.

Two 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old were charged with incitement to hatred when they appeared before magistrates in Coleraine.

The youngest of the trio was also charged with improper use of the public electronic communications network.

The three were arrested by police after a photograph showing two teenagers burning a poppy was posted on a social networking site. The item was later taken down.

They were each remanded on their own bail of £500 to appear at Coleraine Youth Court on November 22.

A PSNI spokesman said police became aware of the existence of certain material on social media networks on Tuesday.

A number of arrests were made and all three were brought before North Antrim Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

“Individuals should be mindful of the content of any material they upload onto social media networks,” he added.