Madden & Finucane represent both young persons who were arrested by the PSNI at approximately 7.25pm or thereabouts at Guildhall Square, in Derry City Centre on 11th July 2024.

Following a public statement issued by the PSNI press office, the incident has today been widely reported in the following terms in the local newspapers:

‘Two Teens Arrested Over Serious Assault on Man.
Police are appealing for information following a report of an assault on a man in Derry last night, Thursday, July 11.
Inspector Craig said: “We received a report at around 7.20pm that a man in his 60s was assaulted by two young people in the Guildhall Square area.
“Officers attended and arrested two boys, aged in their teens, on suspicion of grievous bodily harm … The man was taken to hospital for treatment to serious injuries. The two boys have since been released on police bail to allow for further enquiries.”
(Derry Daily)’

‘Police appealing for information after man in his 60s was assaulted in Derry.
Police are appealing for information following a report of an assault on a man in Derry, Thursday July 11.
Inspector Craig said: “We received a report at around 7.20pm that a man in his 60s was assaulted by two young people in the Guildhall Square area … Officers attended and arrested two boys, aged in their teens, on suspicion of grievous bodily harm. The man was taken to hospital for treatment to serious injuries. The two boys have since been released on police bail to allow for further enquiries.”
(Derry Journal)’

The two boys arrested were aged 13 and 14 years old, respectively. The main offence alleged was assault causing grievous bodily harm. The individual alleged to be assaulted is said to be “a man in his 60s” and the incident is described as being carried out openly in the city centre by two young persons who set about a much older victim.

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 2am on 12th July 2024 on police bail to allow further enquiries to be carried out. They will return to 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 13year 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.”