Curtis Dunlop, 23, appeared at Coleraine Magistrates' Court on Friday accused of riotous assembly in Ballymena on Wednesday - the third successive night of serious disorder in the Co Antrim town this

A Romanian in Ballymena has claimed he has “lost everything” after he was wrongly arrested for the attempted rape of a schoolgirl. He spoke after riots broke out in the Northern Ireland town following the appearance in court of two 14-year-old boys charged with attempted rape and who required a Romanian interpreter.

Rioters clashed with police in Ballymena, and masked groups set fire to a recreation center in Larne, where families had been given temporary shelter.

Some 63 police officers have been injured in what has been called a “ week of shame ” in Northern Ireland. Disorder started in Ballymena on Monday after an alleged sexual assault of a girl in the Co Antrim town at the weekend, and continued throughout the week.

The police said that attacks on houses and businesses in the town of Ballymena were being investigated as racially motivated, and that 15 officers had been injured.

Rioting which injured 22 officers in Portadown was "entirely unacceptable" and undermined the aims of peaceful protestors to have “legitimate” concerns about illegal immigration highlighted, the local MP has said.

Police say 41 officers have been injured and 13 people have been arrested after three nights of rioting across several towns.