North Belfast: Policeman's ear virtually severed in violence

A senior police officer injured in a night of violence was hit by a lump of masonry that "effectively severed his ear", a police chief has said.

Twenty-five police officers were injured and a 16-year-old girl was struck by a car as trouble flared in Belfast on Monday night.

The teenager was trapped under the car at the Crumlin Road and is in hospital.

ACC Stephen Martin has criticised the marshalling of Monday's Orange Order parades.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, he said police had hoped for more effective marshalling by parade organisers.

"There was marshalling of the parades last year that did not occur last night - that is regrettable," he said.

Twenty officers were injured in north Belfast and five in the city centre, he said.

The officer whose ear was severed is expected to undergo surgery on Tuesday.

Police fired five plastic bullets and four are believed to have struck people.

ACC Martin said the situation in north Belfast had been very tense.

"The police were looking in three directions: Woodvale, Twaddell and Ardoyne," he said.

"Last night does not compare in terms of scale, breadth or volume to 2013. I'm grateful for that, but I would have preferred if it had been similar to last year."

He said he did not not believe the violence was orchestrated in terms of paramilitary groups or organised criminality, but rather it was "young people exploiting the situation".

One police officer was bitten so badly on the hand that he received 12 stitches, the Police Federation said.

Officers were injured as missiles were thrown when police enforced a restriction to a contentious Orange parade.

A PSNI spokesperson said the 24 injuries included officers hurt in the car incident in Ardoyne. A number of the officers remained on duty.

Police said nine people were arrested on Monday.

The Orange Order was barred from walking, external along a stretch of the Crumlin Road that separates unionist and nationalist communities on its return from an annual celebration.

Chris Buckler, BBC Ireland Correspondent

It is worth bearing in mind that Monday night's violence was nowhere near as serious or as sustained as the trouble that followed the same restricted parade in 2013.

However, that will be of little comfort to those looking for a solution to the problems and division linked to this annual march.

And there will be frustration, given that the same parade was peaceful last year, albeit with protests and a show of loyalist frustration.

The police clearly believed at first that 2015 could pass off without trouble. They put in place low level barriers and, on the frontline, there was a line of officers rather than Land Rovers.

But shortly after the parade arrived at the barriers, the mood changed and a group at the front started attacking police lines with bricks, bottles, bolts and even bits of their own barrier.

Officers in riot gear were forced to respond in order to hold the line and later in the evening, water cannon was used to hold loyalist protesters back.

That has resulted in another Twelfth where the dominant images are not pictures of celebrations but photographs of violent clashes.

Read: Politicians and key figures react to north Belfast violence

Some loyalists broke through barriers at the police line and began to throw bottles, bricks and metal bolts at police on Monday evening.

The Orange lodges and accompanying bands were returning from a parade to commemorate the victory of the Protestant King William III at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

The trouble began at about 19:30 BST.

But it escalated after a car struck several pedestrians at the nearby Ardoyne shops.

It happened as a crowd of nationalists gathered in protest close to the contentious Orange parade.

The vehicle trapped the girl underneath and was lifted off by police and members of the public.

She was taken to hospital and is now stable. A man was arrested by police and remains in custody.

Police said two officers were hurt as they dealt with that incident.

Fr Gary Donegan, of Holy Cross Catholic Church, told BBC NI's Good Morning Ulster: "The car went right over the top of her.

"PSNI officers and local residents managed to lift the car off her. There were graphic scenes of seeing her feet sticking out from underneath the car.

"You could actually see the marks of the vehicle on the back of her jeans. She was very distressed."

The violence followed a day of largely peaceful 12 July loyal order parades across Northern Ireland.

First Minister Peter Robinson condemned it.

"The PSNI is tasked with upholding the rule of law and it is vital that those involved in such riotous activity cease and are held accountable. They do a massive disservice to the wider cause they claim to support," the DUP leader said.

Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers said the attacks on police were "disgraceful".

"Those responsible do nothing to further the cause they claim to promote," she said.

Ms Villiers said it was important to broker a "local resolution" to the parade dispute.