Expert ‘appalled’ to see ‘kids of 11 or 12’ throwing petrol bombs in Derry

Paul Smyth, Executive Director of Politics in Action, asked, ‘how the hell could a child that age be caught up in this?’ during a briefing of the NI Affairs Committee.

Mr. Smyth is a member of the Stop the Attacks Forum which protests against paramilitarism in the north.

He said: “I am sure you saw the footage of the riots that happened in Derry last Easter. There is very clear footage of kids who were 11 or 12 years old throwing petrol bombs.

"If that does not start a safeguarding review, I do not know what should, but apparently it does not. As a parent, it seems very obvious to me. As a parent, I was appalled by it.

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"How the hell could a child that age be caught up in this? What are their parents doing? Also, what is the state doing to protect them? Often, our approach is to criminalise the young people who get caught up in these things, and that gets the groups off the hook.”

The community worker made the comments after the former NIO Minister Robin Walker suggested something similar to Britain’s anti-terrorist Prevent strategy could be rolled out in the north.

“In the system more generally we have approaches to safeguarding. You mentioned the Prevent strategy. I appreciate that it cannot necessarily be lifted and shifted for the Northern Ireland context, but something similar could presumably be designed with more contextual awareness,” Mr. Walker suggested.

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