Social media users have been voicing their outrage at a migrant who will now stand trial in June accused of attacking a care worker and a number of children.
The Central Criminal Court has ruled that the man accused of assaulting a care worker and attempting to murder three children on Parnell Square in Dublin is fit to enter a plea and stand trial.
The court has scheduled the trial to begin on 8 June.
The court heard expert evidence earlier this year regarding 52-year-old Riad Bouchaker, who was charged with the offences in November 2023.
Mr Justice Tony Hunt said psychiatrists for both the defence and the prosecution agreed that Mr Bouchaker suffers from a neuro-cognitive disorder caused by neurosurgery in 2021 and a subsequent traumatic brain injury in 2023.
However, the experts differed on how those deficits affect his fitness to plead.
The judge said the defence argued that Mr Bouchaker could not understand the nature of the charges, the roles of people in the courtroom, or the choices available in his plea, and that he was unable to give coherent instructions.
The prosecution expert contended that the defence evidence was overstated. The prosecution psychiatrist placed significant weight on Mr Bouchaker’s interviews with gardaí shortly after the incident and concluded that, with appropriate supports, he was fit to stand trial.
Mr Justice Hunt noted that expert evidence does not automatically decide the outcome and that psychiatry is not an exact science. He emphasised that the final decision rests with the court, assisted by the experts.
The judge said he had personally viewed the footage of Mr Bouchaker’s garda interviews to help resolve the conflicting psychiatric opinions.
He described the case as finely balanced but found the evidence of the prosecution’s expert, which was grounded in the garda interviews, to be more persuasive.
The judge acknowledged that Mr Bouchaker has cognitive limitations and that accommodations would be needed during the trial. However, he ruled that these limitations do not mean he is unfit to stand trial. The defence had not proved, on the balance of probabilities, that Mr Bouchaker was unfit to plead.
Mr Justice Hunt concluded that Mr Bouchaker is currently fit to stand trial, and the matter would be kept under review as the trial proceeds.
Prosecuting counsel Karl Finnegan informed the court that the Director of Public Prosecutions is seeking the earliest possible trial date.
The court also heard that an Arabic-speaking interpreter and an intermediary will be required for the trial, which is expected to last more than two weeks.
Mr Justice Hunt fixed 8 June as the date for the trial to proceed. The case will be mentioned in court again in May.
Mr Bouchaker faces charges of attempting to murder two girls and one boy, as well as assault causing serious harm to a care worker.
He is also charged with three counts of assault causing harm to two other young children and a passerby, along with one count of producing a knife.
The incident took place on Parnell Street East on the afternoon of 23 November 2023.
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