Solicitor raises 'serious concerns' over arrest of two teens following Derry assault

The solicitors of two teens arrested by the PSNI at Guildhall Square on Wednesday, 11th July, following an alleged assault of a man have raised concerns about the misleading manner in which the incident has been reported.

Madden & Finucane represent both young persons who were arrested, aged 13 and 14 years old, respectively.

Ciarán Shiels, from Madden & Finucane Solicitors, attended Waterside PSNI station along with the parents of the boys on Thursday night. Both boys were eventually released after 2.00am on Thursday, 12th July 2024 on police bail to allow further enquiries to be  carried out. They will return for further questioning or disposal in September. Each boy was accompanied in the interviews under caution by a parent. 

Raising concerns about the misleading manner in which the incident has been reported, Mr Shiels said: “Both of my young clients were arrested for assault occasioning GBH. They were  also arrested following allegations of assaulting police officers, resisting arrest and  for damage apparently caused to an officer’s glasses. Fortunately, the area of  Guildhall Square is densely covered by Town Centre CCTV. Many business  premises in the locality also have their own camera systems. In addition to this,  thankfully, some members of the public recorded the incident on their mobile  phones and an amount of police body camera footage is already available which  captures the conduct of those officers involved in arresting the two children 

"I want to point out that neither boy has a criminal record. They have never been  previously arrested or come to police attention. Thursday was the first time either of  they saw the inside of a police station. In respect of the allegation of seriously  assaulting an elderly man in the area, both boys answered every single question put  to them by interviewing officers with a parent in close attendance, along with their defence solicitor. Police were unable to contradict anything put forward in either of  their detailed accounts. 

"Based upon the evidence which so has come to light, it appears that an adult male, with an English accent repeatedly attempted to speak with young persons  congregated close to an area where an ATM has previously been installed. The man  was not initially threatening, although he appeared to have alcohol taken and he repeatedly tried to speak to them about being an army veteran.

"The adult was at first ignored by the young persons until my 13 year old client, who was sitting on a ledge, asked him to go away. Words were further exchanged and the 13 year old was, without warning, punched in the face under the left eye by the adult when he was still sitting down. A male eyewitness, at the scene, on PSNI bodyworn footage  clearly confirms to Police that this child was the victim of an assault. The 13year old  immediately got up to his feet and punched the adult to the face. This sequence of  events repeated itself and the adult male fell to the ground after the 13 year old  counter-punched him a second time.  

"The police custody record states the male suffered a single black eye and one large  laceration to the back of his head. The adult also lost consciousness for a period of  minutes before being taken for medical treatment in hospital. It was considered  inappropriate for Police to take a formal statement of complaint from him in these circumstances. Hopefully there will be body worn footage of any verbal account  about the incident by him to the police and emergency services who dealt with him  and these will also be available in due course.  

"My 14 year old client, who is a first cousin of the younger child who suffered the  assault, remained on his mountain bike watching what was happening. He had  absolutely no physical contact with the adult at any time. What he did do, was  remonstrate desperately to officers that police should not be arresting his younger  cousin. This child also protested strongly in respect of his own arrest and we echoed  these representations throughout the recorded interview process. 

"Various clips of mobile phone footage capturing the arrests of the 13 and 14 year old  boys have since been widely shared on various social media platforms. Their content  speaks for itself. 

"We have serious concerns about the lawfulness and the necessity of these arrests. We  are engaging the Ombudsman to investigate the very high level of force used by the  officers and to examine the nature and extent of the multiple injuries to the faces,  heads, limbs and torsos of the two children who were arrested and detained in cells  in Waterside PSNI station. We confirm that those injuries have been fully  photographed and documented by Health Care Professionals and also by Madden &  Finucane. 

"The conduct of both young boys, as well as the behaviour of the adult male, who  unfortunately received a serious head injury as a result of this incident, together with that of the arresting PSNI officers, will receive the close scrutiny of the Public Prosecution Service, the Office of the Police Ombudsman and ultimately the  Criminal and Civil Courts, in due course. 

"In the meantime, we would also ask for any members of the public who have  relevant eyewitness or mobile phone evidence to give, to come forward to Madden  & Finucane Solicitors or the Police Ombudsman.”