Public disorder, Lurgan
18 Sep 2009
The scenes of wanton violence in the streets of Lurgan last night (Thursday 17 September) were an absolute disgrace. They were a disgrace to Northern Ireland.
Once again our country is caught in the spotlight of reckless public disorder and needless disruption.
Commenting on the violent disruption Chief Inspector Jason Murphy said, “Let's be clear where the blame lies here. It lies with those who took to the streets hijacked cars and helped orchestrate this violence, causing nothing but fear and disruption within their own community. This was clearly an attempt to draw my officers into the situation to escalate the violence and to cause serious disruption or injury.
"The actions of these criminals will not deter my officers from providing a service to the people of Lurgan. We have launched an investigation into last night's disorder and will be seeking to gather all the evidence we can to bring those involved to justice. Police received numerous reports of armed gunmen in the area last night and while there are no reports of any shots being fired this is not acceptable behaviour for our streets and robust action will be taken.”
Over five vehicles were hijacked; however there are no reports of any petrol bombs thrown. There were no reports of any injuries.
Chief Inspector Murphy thanked those members of the community who reported incidents to police last night and would encourage them to continuing assisting us with our enquiries.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at Lurgan on 0845 600 8000. Information can also be passed anonymously to the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.
