WORLD CUP WARNING

The police in H District which covers the Ballymoney and Moyle areas are bracing themselves for a rise in household strife and are warning people to behave or else they face getting a 'red card' from the law.

As the World Cup festival of football Kicks off, the Police Service of Northern Ireland has warned domestic abuse will not be tolerated and they encourage victims to report incidents.

As part of ongoing campaign to tackle domestic abuse, police across the Ballymoney/Moyle area have been working closely with other partner agencies including Women's Aid and local District Policing Partnerships to encourage the reporting of incidents and underline the message to those suffering from abuse do not suffer in silence.

Although both Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland failed to qualify for South Africa, England will be there and various countries that make up the local population including Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. Passions are certain to be running high, as nations compete for the ultimate prize.

Detective Inspector Michael Daly, from H District's Public Protection Unit believes with the increase in alcohol consumption, incidents of domestic abuse may increase.

"We will be targeting all areas across Northern Ireland, aided with the domestic abuse campaign. Alongside radio advertising, the campaign aims to publicise the 24 hour domestic abuse helpline. Victims of domestic abuse come from every walk in life and can be any age or gender and this is reflected in our advertisements.

"Of course we hope everyone enjoys the football spectacle over the next month, but we urge a sensible approach when consuming alcohol. Domestic abuse is a crime that police take very seriously, and it is often as a result of too much alcohol.

"Throughout the tournament, we will be working with those directly affected using a number of intervention strategies. Alongside partner agencies, we are able to share information to protect vulnerable persons and their families.

"Unfortunately, there are still incidents of domestic abuse in Northern Ireland that go unreported. Our message for the campaign is 'domestic abuse can only stop when you report it' and that is exactly what we want victims to do."

The Police Service of Northern Ireland definition of Domestic Abuse is any incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, verbal, sexual, financial or emotional) inflicted on one person by another where they are intimate partners or family members, irrespective of gender or sexual orientation.

The 24hr Domestic Abuse helpline number is freephone 08009171414.

H District (Ballymena, Ballymoney, Coleraine, Larne and Moyle) has seen an 11% increase in the number of incidents of Domestic Abuse from 1st April 2009 to 31st March 2010.

The number of domestic incidents reported in Northern Ireland in 2009/10 was 24,482 compared to 2008/09 when it was 23,591.