Teenage boy arrested after police officer seriously injured in deliberate ramming incident

A police officer has sustained serious injuries after a patrol vehicle was deliberately rammed in Newry during the early hours of Wednesday morning, 21st May, prompting widespread condemnation and concern over officer safety.

The incident occurred around 3:00am on Dublin Road, following reports of a vehicle driving erratically in the area. Officers had initially been alerted to the situation approximately an hour earlier.

According to Inspector Jonathan Ritchie, the vehicle involved was located shortly before the ramming occurred.

“Officers were alerted to a vehicle driving erratically in the Dublin Road area around 2:00am. Roughly, an hour later, the vehicle was located and subsequently rammed the responding police vehicle,” he said.

One officer suffered fractured vertebrae during the collision, an injury described as serious and requiring extensive recovery. “An officer has sustained fractured vertebrae as a result of this which is going to take a substantial amount of time and support to recover from,” Inspector Ritchie confirmed.

He added: “This vehicle was, in effect, used as a weapon against officers. It is unacceptable that those working to keep their community safe should be targeted in this way.”

The police vehicle involved was severely damaged in the impact and has been removed from service for repairs. This, police say, will have a knock-on effect on local policing capacity.

“The police vehicle sustained such significant damage that it had to be recovered from the scene and will now be off the road for repairs, which impacts on the local community,” Inspector Ritchie noted.

The actions of the driver have been strongly condemned, with officials highlighting the potential for even more serious consequences.

“The actions of the driver responsible must be condemned, this is completely unacceptable and members of the public could have also been injured during this completely reckless and dangerous incident. We are lucky that we are not dealing with any fatalities as a result of this,” Inspector Ritchie added.

A teenage boy was arrested at the scene and has since been charged with multiple driving-related offences. He appeared in court on Wednesday.