A Brazilian healthcare worker who was studying English in Ireland told a court he witnessed a man stab three children on Parnell Square East on 23 November 2023.
Carlos Antonio Lopes dos Santos was giving evidence in the trial of Riad Bouchaker, a 52-year-old man of no fixed abode who has pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of two girls and one boy, and not guilty to assault causing serious harm to crèche worker Leanne Flynn, at Parnell Square East in Dublin on 23 November 2023, reports RTE.
He has also denied assaulting two other children and an adult male, and denied a charge of producing a knife in a manner likely to intimidate.
Mr Dos Santos said he saw the man — whom the defence accepts was Riad Bouchaker — hold the children before stabbing them, reports RTE.
He testified that the third child was a girl and that “she really got my attention…because he dug the knife in very deeply between stomach and chest.”
He said: “He wanted to do it as quickly as possible so that he could get many kids,” reports RTE.
Mr Dos Santos said he called 999 when he witnessed what was happening.
He also said he saw another man strike Riad Bouchaker with a helmet and people gather around and kick him after he fell to the ground, reports RTE.
He said another man took the knife and threw it onto a grass patch.
He said he was shocked and deeply upset by what he had witnessed, and also saw “the girl covered in blood” and “the paramedics trying to help her,” reports RTE.
He rejected an assertion by the defence that he had not seen any man “stick a knife into the belly or torso of a child.”
The first garda to arrive at the scene said he handcuffed and searched Riad Bouchaker before accompanying him to hospital, reports RTE.
Adam Kealy said he and his colleague Garda Burke arrived by patrol car after a call came in reporting that a number of people had been stabbed in Parnell Square.
He said he could see a man on the ground being restrained by a member of Dublin Fire Brigade who was holding his wrist, reports RTE.
Garda Kealy said his colleague went to search for the knife while he informed Riad Bouchaker he was going to search him, noting that he was conscious and looking around but did not speak.
He said he handcuffed him and patted him down, also retrieving a phone from under his leg and removing a wallet containing Bouchaker’s public services card with his name and personal details, reports RTE.
The garda said he accompanied Bouchaker to the Mater Hospital by ambulance with two other gardaí, one of whom was from an armed response unit, and later removed the handcuffs at the request of medical staff after Bouchaker had been sedated and was unconscious, reports RTE.
An Australian tourist told the Central Criminal Court she witnessed a man push aside a childcare worker who was attempting to shield children, before stabbing a child on Parnell Square in November 2023.
Alison Carbery was giving evidence by videolink from Melbourne in the trial of Riad Bouchaker, reports RTE.
Ms Carbery testified she was visiting Dublin with her sister at the time, having been to Trinity College that morning and was on her way to an exhibition at the Hugh Lane Gallery in Parnell Square.
She said she saw a “tussle” across the street between a man and a woman who was trying to protect children and said to her sister: “he’s got a knife, he’s stabbing a child,” reports RTE.
She said she could clearly see the knife, the stabbing motion and the attack on the child.
Ms Carbery said they ran because they were “so shocked and traumatised by what we had seen” and “didn’t know what else was coming” so they “wanted to get away,” reports RTE.
The court was told that the childcare worker who was pushed aside while protecting the children was Ms Flynn.
Ms Carbery’s sister Catherine also testified by videolink from Australia, telling the court she saw the childcare worker spin out of her puffer jacket to escape the man’s grip, after which he focused his attention on and attacked one of the children, reports RTE.
“There was a man with a very large knife and a very small child,” she said. “I believe he was injuring the child.”
The trial before a jury of nine men and three women continues, reports RTE.
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