NEWS

The woman’s Ballymena home on Tuesday morning. Tuesday 06 October 2026 A disabled woman in her 60s has been left “very upset” after a window was smashed at her Ballymena home in the early hours of Tuesday morning. A family member told Love Ballymena the woman, who has lived in the area for many years, is currently in hospital and was not at her Lewis Park home in the Ballykeel II estate when the damage was caused. The family member said the local resident has nevertheless bee

Tuesday 29 September 2026 Primary 6 and 7 pupils could receive additional literacy and numeracy support, alongside help preparing for the move to post-primary education, under a new programme backed by up to £600,000. The initiative is being delivered through the Department of Education’s existing RAISE programme, which already operates in Ballymena and 17 other localities across Northern Ireland. Schools can apply for funding to provide targeted support during the 2026/27 ac

The scene of the incident where a home was attacked on Monday evening in Ballymena. Police are investigating after a window was smashed at a flat in Ballykeel, Ballymena, in an incident being treated as a hate crime. The criminal damage happened at a property in the Orkney Drive area on Monday night, 21 September, and was reported to police at around 9.30pm. Police have not disclosed the nature of the suspected hate motivation or provided further details about the circumstanc

A 55-year-old man has been charged with offences including assault on police and criminal damage after officers were called to Ballymena’s Orkney Drive on Monday afternoon. He is expected to appear before Coleraine Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 2 September, charged with a number of offences including assault on police, resisting arrest, criminal damage and disorderly behaviour. The charges follow a report of criminal damage in the Orkney Drive area at approximately 4.20pm o

A 55-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of offences including threats to kill and assault on police after officers responded to a report of criminal damage in Ballymena. Police attended the Orkney Drive area of Ballykeel following the report at approximately 4.20pm on Monday 31 August. The man was arrested on suspicion of disorderly behaviour, assault on police, resisting arrest, attempted criminal damage and threats to kill. Police appeal for information Police said

A pensioner was reportedly left requiring hospital treatment after an assault in Ballymena on Saturday night, with police appealing for witnesses and footage from the area. The PSNI said the assault was reported in the vicinity of Barra Drive at approximately 10.25pm on Saturday 15 August. Police have not released details about the age of the man or the extent of his injuries. However, Ballykeel 1 Moving Forward Community Group said a pensioner had been attacked close to the

Police officers carried out a major operation in Ballymena on Monday morning as part of an ongoing investigation into the suspected supply of illegal drugs. Multiple police units were deployed to the Orkney Drive area of the Ballykeel 2 estate, where residents reported seeing several unmarked police cars and vans arriving in the area. The activity formed part of a wider operation spanning both Ballymena and Antrim and focused on suspected involvement in the supply of Class A

The burnt out vehicle on Sunday morning A car was completely destroyed after a deliberate fire in a residential area of Ballymena in the early hours of Sunday morning, prompting a police appeal for information. The incident happened in the Shetlands Gardens area of Ballykeel II shortly after 3.10am on Sunday, June 14, when emergency services were called to reports of a vehicle on fire. Police officers attended the scene alongside crews from the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescu

Hundreds of thousands of people across Northern Ireland could be living with dangerously high blood pressure without realising it — and a free health event coming to Ballymena aims to change that before lives are put at risk. Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke (NICHS) has launched a public awareness campaign highlighting what it describes as the hidden danger of undetected high blood pressure, a condition linked to one in every two heart attacks and strokes. As part of the

Police and ambulance crews were called to a property in the Ballykeel area of Ballymena on Thursday afternoon following the sudden death of a man. The incident happened in the Shetland Gardens area shortly before 5pm on Thursday, May 14. Emergency services, including officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland and colleagues from the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, attended the scene after reports of the sudden death. Police say death not being treated as suspici

Police are appealing for information after a car was deliberately set alight in Ballymena in the early hours of Monday morning, with a petrol bomb discovered on top of the vehicle. The incident happened around 6.20am on Monday, 13 April, prompting a response from police and firefighters. On Monday morning police teams were seen with the vehicle in the area of Kintyre Park in the Ballykeel 1 estate in the town. The vehicle sustained damage to its boot area, and detectives are

Drugs seized by police in the Ballykeel area of Ballymena A routine patrol in Ballymena has led to a major drugs seizure worth an estimated £450,000, in what police have described as a “substantial disruption” to illegal activity in the area. Officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) stopped and searched a suspicious vehicle in the Ballykeel area on Thursday, 26 March 2026. What they discovered inside was far from routine. Approximately 30 kilos of suspecte

Inset: Victor Hamilton who was murdered in Ballymena in 2022 A man charged with the murder of a Ballymena resident has been arrested in Portugal, reigniting scrutiny of serious criminal justice and deportation failures highlighted by Ulster Unionist MLA Doug Beattie. Victor Hamilton, a 63-year-old man who had only recently moved to Ballymena, was stabbed to death in July 2022. His body was discovered in the driveway outside his home on Orkney Drive in the Ballykeel area of th

Murder victim Victor Hamilton, and the scene of the incident in Orkney Drive, Ballymena. Ulster Unionist justice spokesperson Doug Beattie MC MLA has challenged serious failures in the deportation of foreign national offenders, citing the murder of a Ballymena resident as a stark example of systemic breakdowns within Northern Ireland’s Criminal Justice System. Speaking about the killing of Victor Hamilton in July 2022, Mr Beattie said the case exposed “yet another failing” i

The site of the approved housing development in Ballymena A planning application has been submitted seeking non-material amendments to a previously approved housing development at Crebilly Road in Ballymena. The proposal relates to a residential scheme that received planning approval from Mid and East Antrim Borough Council in June 2021 for the redevelopment of a 1.3 acre site at 115 Crebilly Road, opposite the Ballykeel 2 estate. The approved development consists of 16 famil

Pupils of Ballykeel Primary School enjoying time in the Mayoral Parlour at The Braid, with Mayor of Mid & East Antrim, UUP Councillor Jackson Minford Pupils from Ballykeel Primary School enjoyed a lively morning at The Braid in Ballymena as they put local elected representatives on the spot with a series of challenging questions about life in local government. The Year 6 (P6) class met with Mayor of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, Councillor Jackson Minford, and Independ

River View, Ballymena Ballymena police have arrested two individuals following a property search in the River View area of Ballykeel 1,...

Detectives are appealing for information after a burglary at a residential property in Ballymena on Tuesday night, 30th September. Police...

Ballykeel 1 estate, in Ballymena Police are appealing for information following a report of a suspicious approach to three young girls in...

Police in Ballymena have launched an appeal for information after receiving a report of an assault involving a group of men in the Orkney...