Man charged over Belfast Glider bus fire during June riots

A 29-year-old man was charged with riot, attempted murder and two counts of arson endangering life with intent after the Glider bus fire that helped drive Belfast’s June disorder. He was arrested on Monday, June 29, and was due to appear before Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, June 30, with the Public Prosecution Service set to review the case.

The unrest erupted on Tuesday, June 9, after a knife attack in north Belfast the previous night left a man in his 40s with serious injuries to his eyes, face and back. On the Newtownards Road in east Belfast, masked men pushed commercial bins into the Glider bus before setting it alight, turning a public transport service into one of the most visible symbols of the night’s violence.

Translink suspended all services in and out of Belfast as the fire and wider disorder spread. Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins called the burning of the bus, the attacks on homes and the damage to roads “totally unacceptable”, and said the driver and passenger on board the hijacked bus were both okay. The Glider, a high-frequency bus service used across the city, was among the first transport links hit during the unrest.

The violence did not stop at one street. Homes were set on fire and residents were evacuated in parts of Belfast including Lendrick Street, Crumlin Road and Bute Park, while vehicles were torched in Tigers Bay, Sandy Row, Portadown and Cloughfern. Police rescued multiple families from their homes during the disorder, including a family with a two-month-old baby.

PSNI and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency figures published in May 2026 recorded 1,507 race hate crimes and 2,367 race incidents in the year to March 2026, the highest levels since records began in 2004. First Minister Michelle O’Neill called the violence “outright thuggery”, and PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher described it as an “act of self-harm” to communities.