A PLANNED march at the weekend to protest at the ‘unjust’ imprisonment of men who removed UDA plaques from the Weaver’s Grange area of Newtownards in April was postponed to allow for a meeting with police.
Women from local community groups were set to march from the West Winds estate to the town’s police station to protest against the police’s handling of the incident on April 6 when a group of up to 60 men entered the Weaver’s Grange estate and took down three UDA plaques.
But ahead of the march, scheduled to take place last Friday evening, they met that morning instead with senior police officers.
They were accompanied by independent unionist councillor Steven Irvine, Mike Nesbitt MLA, who is a Policing Board member, Jamie Bryson of JWB Consultancy and were facilitated by Northern Ireland Alternatives – a restorative justice programme.
“The purpose of the meeting was to discuss serious concerns in relation to recent policing actions directed at members of the community who, in peaceful protest, at the request of a community living in fear, removed illegal plaques from the Weaver’s Grange area,” said Mr Irvine in a statement.
They said they believed that any risks posed by these men could be managed on bail, instead of on remand.
The High Court last week upheld the local Magistrates’ Court ruling to keep the men in custody, ruling out bail due to the risk of reoffending.
A total of 11 men have been remanded in custody in connection with the Weaver’s Grange incident, which police have linked to the feud between drug gangs in Ards which began in March.
The group reported a ‘robust and frank but respectful discussion’ and said the PSNI have been asked to follow-up on a number of issues, including the ‘proportionality’ of its approach to the investigation.
They also urged the police to instead ‘relentlessly pursue all forms of criminality’ of the local drugs gang ‘which is terrorising the local community, threatening elected representatives and defacing the area with graffiti’.
“All those present at the meeting urged the PSNI to ‘take back control’ of Weaver’s Grange and to direct significant resource into dealing with the drugs gang terrorising the community,” added Mr Irvine.
The PSNI’s North Area Commander, Chief Superintendent Jeremy Lindsay, confirmed the meeting took place and that lengthy discussions took place about concerns.
“Residents in Weavers Grange and the wider Newtownards area should be in no doubt that we are committed to delivering a professional policing service that keeps people safe, and this includes tackling the scourge of drugs and reckless behaviour amongst criminals in our communities,” he said.
“We are determined to tackle this criminality and disrupt the activities of those who are breaking the law and who are terrorising local people who just want to live in peace.
“Our focus remains and our aim is to make the Ards and North Down area a safer place for the people who live and work there. This is something that must be achieved through working in partnership with local residents, community groups and political representatives.
“I would ask anyone with concerns about policing in the area to come and talk to us so that we can work together to address these issues and find appropriate solutions. We will always act on concerns and information from the community and we would encourage any member of the public who knows anything in regard to criminality, to contact their local police on the non-emergency number 101 or submit a report online using our non-emergency reporting form via http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/”
