Youths with hammers cause €46,000 damage to flat during party

A teenage girl has been released on bail by police in Belfast after a luxury riverside apartment in the east of the city was badly damaged after a party got out of control.

The manager of the property, who does not wish to be identified, says youths with hammers caused around £40,000 (€46,000) worth of damage to the ground floor flat during at party at the weekend.

Interior walls, doors, windows, furniture and household appliances were all damaged or destroyed in the property which is near the River Lagan.

Graffiti was daubed on a wall and blood stains were found on floors and other surfaces during what one resident described as “an indoor riot”.

Pet owners urged to make sure dogs avoid chocolate over Easter

---

Plebiscite on directly elected mayor for Dublin could be held in 2021 - Taoiseach

---

‘Guns thunder at midnight’: when the Republic left the Commonwealth

---

Government reliance on private rental ‘not the way to go’

---

The Belfast Telegraph reported the short term rental property had been reserved on a online website by a woman for her 16-year-old daughter who then shared the venue on Snapchat as the location for a party to which scores of young people turned up.

The apartment manager William, who did not want to reveal his surname, told the newspaper it was “a shocking and mindless attack”.

“I have never seen anything like this. The damage is horrific,” he said.

“Several windows are smashed, the kitchen’s wrecked, two bathrooms are wrecked, all the furniture is wrecked. There’s a hole in the wall from the kitchen into the hall . . . everything’s ruined. It’s a nightmare.”

He added: “There was blood smeared on the wall and floor so obviously whoever did this hurt themselves in the process.”

“It’s a total mess. It’s been described as a pre-arranged party that got out of hand. But it’s going to take a lot of time and money to get the apartment back to the way it was beforehand.

“We’ve been letting it out for two years without a hitch. We’ve hardly even had a broken plate or cup – and even then the client had sent a message apologising.

“This is horrendous. The place just got completely wrecked.”

One resident described the party as “an indoor riot” and another said armed police did respond but “there was plenty of time for them to wreck the place beforehand”.

A PSNI spokesman said: “Police are investigating a report of criminal damage being caused to an apartment in the Short Strand area of Belfast on Saturday, April 13th.

“A 16-year-old female youth was arrested by police and has been released on bail pending further enquiries.”