AROUND 150 young people threw bottles and stones at passing motorists along the Falls Road on Saturday night. The crowd gathered at the Falls Park to drink from around 7pm and attacked police officers who responded to reports that they were engaging in anti-social behaviour.
Sinn Féin Councillor Steven Corr appealed to parents to check where their children are going especially at the weekends.
“With the Christmas holidays, alcohol is more prevalent in houses and children are taking alcohol from their home and bringing it out in backpacks,” he said. “Kids have the money, accessibility and time off school – and with the weather being milder this year they can stay out longer. I condemn this incident and would ask parents to tell their children to stay away from trouble.”
PSNI Air Support took to social media site Twitter on Saturday stating: “Police 46 responded to help our colleagues @PSNIBelfastW stop a crowd of 150 youths from stoning cars/buses plus other ASB. If caught it’s a bad start to 2019 so please bring them home.”
A spokesperson for the PSNI described the crowd’s behaviour as “reckless”.
The spokesperson went on: “It’s important to stress that not all the youths involved in last night’s anti-social behaviour are from the Falls area, but are coming into the area from elsewhere. It’s not about spoiling fun, this is about keeping people safe.”