Police pelted with fireworks, bottles and bricks on Bonfire Night

Police officers clashed with large groups throwing fireworks, bottles and bricks and emergency service vehicles and cars.

Police Scotland said the force responded to 18 incidents on Tuesday evening as part of Operation Moonbeam.

Police said they had responded to “youth disorder” in the Niddrie, Sighthill and Moredun areas of Edinburgh.

Two fire service appliances were attacked during the incidents with police vehicles and other cars targeted by groups throwing fireworks, bottles and bricks, Police Scotland said in a statement. No injuries were reported during the disturbances.

Police Scotland

Lothian Buses earlier announced it had taken the “difficult but necessary decision” to withdraw all services from the Niddrie area until the end of the evening.

Four incidents of attacks on fire appliances responding to calls were reported in Glasgow with no injuries reported.

Earlier, officers in Glasgow recovered a “significant quantity” of fireworks from a van in the Drumpchapel area.

Police Scotland

In a statement posted on social media, police said the fireworks were being “sold to the general public, including children” and they had been seized.

They added that a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal, and that Trading Standards have been notified.

In Peterhead, police said a 33-year-old man was hit by a van after a pyrotechnic device was ignited in a skate park in Aalesund Road. The man did not require further medical attention after being treated by paramedics with inquiries to identify the suspects ongoing.

Assistant chief constable Tim Mairs, the gold commander for Operation Moonbeam which is aimed at supporting local police in tackling fireworks-related offences, praised emergency service workers.

“Their actions ensured that some of the challenging scenes we witnessed this year did not escalate into mass disorder, on the scale of what we experienced last year,” he said.

“Nevertheless, the levels of violence and aggression police officers, fire service and ambulance service personnel faced in some areas was wholly unacceptable and a significant investigative response is now underway to identify each and every one of those involved and bring them to justice.”

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service reported attacks on crews within three hours, however no injuries were reported. 

Three attacks took place in Clydebank, two in Edinburgh and one in Blackridge in West Lothian.

Andy Watt, deputy chief officer for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “I would like to pay tribute to the professionalism and resilience of our frontline crews.

“Operations Control firefighters answered over 1,000 calls tonight and have once again worked tirelessly to ensure we respond to those who need us the most.

“Unfortunately, several of our crews came under attack across Scotland, with six attacks within three hours.

“Crews were bombarded with missiles and fireworks while responding to emergency incidents.

“These attacks prevent our crews from bringing any emergency to a safe and swift conclusion, and can impact on our emergency service colleagues – including the police when they must escort us at the scene.

“This type of behaviour is, of course, carried out by a very small minority and we once again thank our communities for their continuing support and working together with us to stay safe across the Bonfire period.”

On Halloween, a female police officer was injured when a brick was thrown through the window of her vehicle in Edinburgh.

One person has been arrested and charged in relation to disorder in the capital.

However, the scale of violence was far less compared with the same period in 2023 when 62 officers were injured by fireworks and other projectiles.

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