Looking back... Magistrate warns that ‘gang warfare’ will result in jail

The warning came from Resident Magistrate John Fox at Newtownabbey Magistrates Court in October 1965, after the defendants, including four men from Carrick, were involved in a fight outside Monkstown Orange Hall where a dance had been taking place.

The head constable said that the incident was one of the “most serious” in the Newtownabbey police district “for a considerable time”.

The court heard that several of those involved had knives and bottles, and blood and glass had been found . One youth had been unconscious in hospital for two days while another “lay unconscious” in a field nearby overnight.

A police officer who went to the scene of the fight told the court that he had been given a number of knives which had been found afterwards.

The magistrate said that if any of those involved came before him again, they would go to jail.

He added: “Anyone who takes part in gang warfare in this area does so at their own peril.”