One officer was injured during one of the incidents, which saw youths hurling fireworks, bottles, and bricks at passing cars – including two fire service vehicles
A group of youths unleashed chaos in Scotland last night as they hurled fireworks, bottles, and bricks at passing vehicles.
While serious disorder incidents on Bonfire Night have seen a decrease across the region, Police Scotland reported that they attended 18 incidents in Edinburgh on Tuesday evening as part of Operation Moonbeam. The figure is down from the 26 incidents during the same period in 2023, but still saw an officer injured and vehicles attacked.
A police officer was injured during the operation when a brick was thrown through her vehicle’s window in Edinburgh on Halloween. Last year, 62 officers were injured by fireworks and other projectiles. One individual has been arrested and charged in connection with the Edinburgh incident.
Police responded to “youth disorder” in Niddrie, Sighthill, and Moredun areas of Edinburgh on Tuesday night, which saw two fire service vehicles were attacked, along with police vehicles and other cars. These were targeted by groups hurling fireworks, bottles, and bricks, according to a statement from Police Scotland. No injuries were reported during these disturbances.
Buses in Lothian announced earlier that it had made the “difficult but necessary decision” to suspend all services from the Niddrie area for the rest of the evening. In Glasgow, four incidents of attacks on fire appliances responding to calls were reported, with no injuries reported.
Earlier, officers in Glasgow recovered a “significant quantity” of fireworks from a van in the Drumpchapel area. In a statement shared on social media, police revealed that fireworks were being “sold to the general public, including children” and had been confiscated. They also stated that a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal and Trading Standards have been informed.
Meanwhile, in Peterhead, a 33-year-old man was struck by a van after a firework was set off in a skate park on Aalesund Road. The man did not need further medical treatment after paramedics attended to him, with investigations to identify the culprits still ongoing.
Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs, who is leading Operation Moonbeam aimed at assisting local police in dealing with offences related to fireworks, commended 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.”
