![\"There](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ca6e99f4-0b29-48e6-8da9-4c2ddd21d8e3.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe boys had been charged in connection with an alleged serious sexual assault on a teenage girl in the Clonavon Terrace area of the Co Antrim town in June.<\/p>\n
The incident sparked days of race-related anti-immigration rioting in Ballymena, with linked sporadic outbreaks of violence in other parts of Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
The PPS said there had been \u201csignificant evidential developments\u201d in the case.<\/p>\n
The boys are aged 14 and 15 and have been in custody since they first appeared in court in June, when they addressed the court through a Romanian interpreter.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
There were several nights of rioting in Ballymena in the summer (Liam McBurney\/PA)<\/p>\n
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – Friday, November 28<\/p>\n
A PPS spokesperson said: \u201cThe PPS has a duty to keep prosecution decisions under consideration and take into account any change in circumstances that occurs as the case proceeds.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere new information or evidence becomes available, it will be considered along with all the existing information and evidence in the case and the test for prosecution applied.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have recently been made aware of significant evidential developments in this case.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn light of this new evidence, it has been determined that the test for prosecution is no longer met on evidential grounds, and therefore the case should not proceed.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2.69662979.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The charges were formally withdrawn at Laganside Youth Court on Friday (Liam McBurney\/PA)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe prosecution team and the police investigation team met with the complainant and her family this morning to explain the reasons for the decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
All charges faced by both defendants were formally withdrawn at Laganside Youth Court on Friday.<\/p>\n
The PPS added: \u201cAll PPS decisions in this case were taken independently, impartially and in line with the code for prosecutors.<\/p>\n
\u201cDue to the importance of respecting the privacy, anonymity, and wellbeing of all the young people involved, including the complainant, the PPS will not be making any further comment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would appeal to the public not to engage in speculation, including online, about the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both boys had been accused of attempting to rape the girl.<\/p>\n
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Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Detective Chief Inspector Stephanie Finlay said any reported sexual crime is taken \u201cextremely seriously and thoroughly investigated by our specially trained team of detectives\u201d.<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cThe PSNI will follow up on all lines of enquiry as we seek to ensure justice.<\/p>\n
\u201cInformation gathered during an investigation will be submitted to the Public Prosecution Service who then make an independent decision in accordance with evidential tests.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe continue to encourage those who have been victims of sexual crimes to come forward and report to us. You will be dealt with sensitively and will be offered the appropriate additional support.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will listen, treat you with respect and act to keep you and others safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are aware that this case has generated significant public interest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would remind everyone to remain respectful in light of today\u2019s decision, and refrain from speculation, particularly on social media.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The boys had been charged in connection with an alleged serious sexual assault on a teenage girl in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205368,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,13,14,6,11,23,12,15,16,5,81745,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-205367","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-featured-news","11":"tag-featurednews","12":"tag-headlines","13":"tag-latest-news","14":"tag-latest-news-ticker","15":"tag-latestnews","16":"tag-main-news","17":"tag-mainnews","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-news-in-90-seconds","20":"tag-top-stories","21":"tag-topstories","22":"tag-world","23":"tag-world-news","24":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115629266611009518","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}