Special needs youngster arrested

A 14-year-old West Belfast schoolboy with special needs was arrested by the PSNI on his way to school on Tuesday 6 January and taken for questioning at Strandtown PSNI station in East Belfast.

The boy was arrested following an incident when a plastic bottle was thrown at a PSNI armoured Land Rover as it drove along Brittons Parade.

The schoolboy was bundled into the back of a Land Rover by members of the force, who ignored local residents' informing them that the boy suffered form asthma and had special needs.

The boy was questioned in relation to causing criminal damage, resisting arrest and disorderly behaviour at Strandtown before being released later the same day pending the preparation of a PSNI report into the incident.

Sinn Féin Councillor Marie Cush has called on the Police Ombudsman to investigate the incident.