Three arrested after attack on officers called to suspect device that was ‘elaborate hoax’

Police have been attacked with petrol bombs during “orchestrated disorder” near a polling station in Northern Ireland.

They attended a security alert involving a suspicious device close to a school in Derry being used for the European election vote when they were targeted. Five petrol bombs were thrown at them. One was thrown in the vicinity of Glengalliagh Park, where a number of children were present.

Officers recovered six more petrol bombs, along with 20 paint bombs and two crates of empty bottles. Police subsequently arrested two male teenagers aged 17 and a boy aged 12 in connection with the disorder. They are in custody assisting with enquiries.

Officers later declared the device an “elaborate hoax” after taking it away for forensic examination. They then carried out a controlled explosion on it.

Supt Gordon McCalmont, of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said: “There is no doubt my officers were lured into the area this evening and that those involved in this orchestrated disorder had one aim in mind – to attack police.

“This was made all the more reckless by the fact that one of the petrol bombs hurled at police landed in close proximity to young children who could have been left seriously injured, or worse. This security alert is the second this month in this area, impacting the same community that was disrupted on 2 May during local council elections.

“It cannot be lost on anyone the disruption this has caused in the local community, let alone the potential for serious harm that could have been caused.”

Moss Road, which was closed, has since been re-opened. McCalmont said: “I would like to thank the local community for their patience and understanding during the course of this policing operation.

“The blame for the inconvenience, however, lies squarely with those individuals who left this close to a local school, which was being used as a polling station this evening. Those responsible have absolutely nothing to offer local people or society in general.”

Last month journalist Lyra McKee was shot dead in Derry by dissident republicans during unrest in the city.