A woman heard a man shouting abuse about Irish people in an “aggressive” manner as he walked along a Dublin city centre street near where a knife attack later that afternoon left several children with stab injuries and one with severe brain damage, a court has heard.
The trial of Riad Bouchaker, 52, also heard that when gardaà opened a rucksack found at the scene of the stabbing, they discovered packaging for a 24cm carving knife, reports Breaking News.
Mr Bouchaker, of no fixed address, is on trial at the Central Criminal Court charged with the attempted murder of two girls and one boy, and assault causing serious harm to a care worker, at Parnell Square East in Dublin city on 23 November 2023.
He is further charged with assaulting two other children and an adult male, and with producing a knife in a manner likely to intimidate, reports Breaking News.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and his trial before a jury of nine men and three women is expected to last up to five weeks.
Patricia Byrne told prosecuting barrister Carol Doherty on Friday that she was walking along Mary Street in Dublin when she heard a man being “quite aggressive in his words,” reports Breaking News.
When she looked to her right, she heard him saying “sh*t Irish, sh*t f*ing Irish.”
As she walked on, she heard him say the same words to a group of English, Welsh and Scottish tourists who were laughing, at which point she told them it was “not funny,” reports Breaking News.
Ms Byrne went into a nearby shop and on emerging a short time later saw the same man approach two women with buggies, before he walked out of her view.
She recalled the man was wearing dark clothing and said she had only caught a “glance” at him, and subsequently identified herself and the man she saw on CCTV footage shown to the court, reports Breaking News.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Tony Hunt and a jury of nine men and three women.
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