A MAN WHO caused a family to “hide in an attic for almost five hours” due to his actions during the Ballymena riots last year has been jailed.

A custodial sentence was today handed down by Antrim Crown Court on Adam Connolly in connection with disorder in Ballymena in June 2025.

Connolly, aged 34 and from Cullybackey in Co Antrim, was sentenced to four years, with half to be spent in custody and half on licence, after he was convicted of burglary with intent to cause unlawful damage.

Speaking after this sentence, PSNI detective chief inspector Michael O’Loan noted that on 9 June 2025, large scale disorder broke out on the streets of Ballymena involving a large crowd of rioters.

Further violence then followed across other areas in Northern Ireland.

O’Loan said damage was caused to roads, homes, cars and local business premises, with people left fearing for their lives.

He added that PSNI officers came under attack and many were “left injured after petrol bombs, heavy masonry and fireworks were thrown at them”.

In relation to Connolly, O’Loan remarked that on 9 June 2025, PSNI systems captured footage of a male, later identified as Connolly, unlawfully entering a house in Clonavon Terrace and causing damage inside.

O’Loan said that the family inside the house at the time “had to hide in the attic for almost five hours, terrified for their safety”.

Connolly handed himself into police on 4 July after images of him had been issued by the PSNI to the media, and he was subsequently charged.

“Our dedicated investigation team has worked tirelessly to ensure that those involved are prosecuted – today’s sentencing is one of many over this disorder – with a substantial sentence handed down in court,” said O’Loan.

He reiterated an appeal to anyone who has been the victim of, or has any information on, any crime to contact police.

Violence erupted in the Co Antrim town in June 2025 after an alleged sexual assault of a girl in the town.

The charges against the two teenagers were later withdrawn after new evidence in the case came to light.

The Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland said in November that “the test for prosecution is no longer met on evidential grounds, and therefore the case should not proceed”.