Magistrate warnedthat ‘gang warfare’would result in jail
The warning came from Resident Magistrate John Fox, at Newtownabbey Magistrate’s Court , in October 1965, after the defendants, including two men from Rathcoole, were involved in a fight outside Monkstown Orange Hall where a dance had been taking place.
The head constable said that the incident was one of the “most serious” in the Newtownabbey police district “for a considerable time”.
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Hide AdThe court heard that several of those involved had knives and bottles and blood and glass had been found . One youth had been unconscious in hospital for two days while another “lay unconscious” in a field nearby overnight.
A police officer who went to the scene of the fight told the court that he had been given a number of knives which had been found afterwards.
The magistrate said that if any of the youths involved came before him again, they would go to jail.
He added: “Anyone who takes part in gang warfare in this area does so at their own peril.”