The trial of Riad Bouchaker has commenced at Dublin's Central Criminal Court. Bouchaker denies attempting to murder three children and assaulting a creche worker during an incident in Parnell Square East in November 2023. Witnesses including two Australian tourists and a Portuguese man described seeing a man with a knife attacking children, while the defence suggested the intent may have been to intimidate.
Riad Bouchaker , a 52-year-old man of no fixed address, is currently standing trial at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin on serious charges related to an incident in Parnell Square East on November 23rd, 2023.
He faces accusations of attempting to murder two girls and one boy, and of causing serious harm to creche worker Leanne Flynn. Additional charges include assaulting two other children and an adult male, and producing a knife in a manner intended to intimidate. Bouchaker has pleaded not guilty to all counts. The trial, which is expected to span up to five weeks, began with testimony from multiple witnesses who described a chaotic and frightening scene.
Witness Catherine Carbery, giving evidence via video link from her home in Melbourne, Australia, recounted that she and her sister Alison were tourists walking near O'Connell Street that afternoon. She observed what seemed like a heated argument between a man and a woman, which escalated into the woman screaming as she tried to get away from the man who had hold of her. The man then turned his attention to a group of children lined up on the footpath.
Carbery testified that she saw the man appear to attack a child with a large knife. Under cross-examination by the defence, she was asked if she could rule out the possibility that his intent was merely to terrify and intimidate rather than to stab.
She responded that while she could not be absolutely certain, the sight of a man with a very large knife and a small child, combined with his actions, made it highly unlikely the child would not have been injured. Alison Carbery provided a similar account, stating she heard screaming and saw a woman trying to protect children from a man she was struggling with. She saw the woman being spun around and immediately noticed the man had a knife.
She shouted a warning to her sister, "He's got a knife, he's stabbing the children," and under cross-examination she stated definitively that she saw the knife plunged into the torso of one child. Another witness, former Garda Adam Kealy, described arriving at the scene with a colleague. He found Bouchaker lying on the ground, restrained by a fire officer. Kealy conducted a search, finding a mobile phone and wallet but no weapon.
He noted Bouchaker was conscious but non-responsive. Later, it was learned Bouchaker had been sedated. Carlos Antonio Lopes dos Santos also testified, saying he heard screams and saw a man with a knife near a queue of children. He described seeing the man grab a third child, a girl, and stab her profoundly in the stomach or chest area.
He also recalled seeing a bystander strike Bouchaker on the head with a motorbike helmet as others intervened. The prosecution is presenting its case, while the defence argues that Bouchaker's intention may have been intimidation rather than causing physical injury
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