A firefighter who was among the first responders at the scene of the Parnell Square stabbings in November 2023 has said he still vividly remembers seeing a little girl’s pink shoes and a woman with a severe injury to her back.
Brian Mulvany was giving evidence in the trial of 52-year-old Riad Bouchaker, who has denied attempting to murder three children in November 2023, reports RTE.
Mr Bouchaker, of no fixed abode, has also pleaded not guilty to assaulting childcare worker Leanne Flynn causing her serious harm, and to assaulting two other children and a young man who intervened.
Mr Mulvany told the court he and his team had been heading to Henry Street to deal with a fire alarm activation when he heard a radio call about an incident on Parnell Square and diverted there instead, reports RTE.
He said the street was chaotic, with a single ambulance pulled in, and he saw a small girl on the footpath being attended to by a paramedic and a member of the public.
He said the little girl was on her back and her pink shoes stood out to him, adding that he still remembered them to this day, reports RTE.
Mr Mulvany said the paramedic was performing CPR on the little girl and he presumed it was a traumatic cardiac arrest, having been informed there had been a stabbing, and he sent one of his crew to assist.
Mr Mulvany saw a man on the ground further down the road and initially thought he was one of the victims, reports RTE.
But as he approached, he encountered a cordon of women all holding hands like a chain who were screaming at him to get back, though once they realised he and his colleagues were firefighters, they let them through.
Mr Mulvany said he initially thought the man on the ground was unconscious but a colleague indicated he had responded to a pain stimulus, reports RTE.
Mr Mulvany also helped Ms Flynn, saying she had a great deal of blood on her back and when he pulled up her top he saw a large laceration, with one of her internal organs, possibly her lung, protruding through her back.
He said she was saying she could not breathe properly and he assisted her before she was placed into an ambulance, reports RTE.
He said events moved quickly as so many resources were deployed to the street and patients were taken to hospital.
He said there were a number of parents further up the street outside the cordon who were in great distress wondering what had happened to their children, and that he was able to reassure them their children had not been injured, though he could not allow them down to the school as the area was a crime scene, reports RTE.
David Hosback, an advanced paramedic also working with Dublin Fire Brigade, said he saw a lot of “chaotic behaviour” when he arrived at the scene.
He saw a young girl, a woman and a man who were all receiving treatment, and he went first to help the paramedic treating the little girl, reports RTE.
Mr Hosback said the paramedic had already administered a number of medications and attached a dressing to the wound on the girl’s chest.
He helped the paramedic with an intervention to assist the little girl’s breathing, reports RTE.
He said he also assisted two doctors, including a paediatric anaesthetist from Temple Street hospital who had arrived at the scene and helped make the decision to administer blood to the child.
He said someone from the Rotunda hospital had been able to procure blood products and the decision was made to administer them to the girl, reports RTE.
Mr Hosback said he had a vivid memory of the runners the little girl was wearing and that he also saw a bag nearby.
He said the girl was roughly around five years of age, reports RTE.
Detective Garda Aaron Grattan also described a chaotic scene at Parnell Square.
He said he saw Leanne Flynn, the crèche worker, sitting on nearby steps, having sustained a large wound to her torso and screaming in pain, reports RTE.
He travelled in the ambulance to the Mater Hospital with Ms Flynn.
Mr Bouchaker was brought by ambulance to the same hospital, reports RTE.
Detective Garda Grattan was shown a hat and wallet belonging to Mr Bouchaker which had been seized at the scene.
The trial concluded early for the day and will resume in the morning, reports RTE.
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