Parnell Square attacker had to be ‘put down’, witness says

A man who launched a knife attack on children had to be “put down”, a witness who intervened in the incident has told a jury.

The Central Criminal Court in Dublin has heard multiple children and an adult were injured in the attack, including a girl who is now in a wheelchair and non-verbal.

Riad Bouchaker, aged 52 and of no fixed address, is charged with attempted murder of two girls and one boy, and assault causing serious harm to an adult, at Parnell Square East in Dublin City on November 23 2023.

Bouchaker is also charged with assaulting three other people, and with producing a 36cm kitchen knife.

He has pleaded not guilty to all eight charges.

On the fifth day of the trial, the jury of nine men and three women heard from witnesses to the events.

Warren Donohoe told the court that he had run towards the incident after initially believing it to be an argument between a man and a woman.

He later saw the children and said he hit the man, who the defence has accepted is Bouchaker, with a “dig in the jaw”.

He said he “had to be put down” because of “what he was doing”.

Asked if there were other people around, Mr Donohoe said there was “commotion” and “chaos”.

Under cross-examination, he agreed that he had kicked Bouchaker when he was on the ground.

Mr Donohoe had earlier said he wanted to “make sure he didn’t get back up”.

He was one of multiple witnesses who told the court they initially believed the incident to be an argument between a man and a woman, who the jury has previously heard was creche worker Leanne Flynn.

Later, witness Micheal Healy told the court he had been attending the nearby Hugh Lane Gallery with his partner Eileen O’Sullivan.

Afterwards, he said he heard a scream on Parnell Square East and then could see a man “attacking” a woman in front of a group of children.

Mr Healy said the man, who was across the road from them, appeared to have a “big carving knife”.

He told the court: “He looked like he wanted to stab any one or all of the children.”

Mr Healy told the court that over the last two-and-a-half years he had “replayed this in slow motion” in his mind, adding: “It seemed to go on forever.”

He said that the man appeared to grab the children, and turn them around and wave the knife.

Mr Healy said the children were screaming and he was “moving through them”, later saying the waving of the knife was a “stabbing movement”.

“He was going for whoever he could get hold of.”

Ms O’Sullivan said it was her view that “he was hellbent on getting to as many children as he could”.

Asked if she could say how many times attempts to stab were made, she said she could not as it was “something you couldn’t believe was actually happening”.

She said the “assailant” had grabbed a child and swivelled them around and tried to stab them in the chest.

Ms O’Sullivan said there was a “lot of screaming”.

Under cross-examination, both agreed with Mr Bouchaker’s defence counsel that there were no adults to stop the person between the period that Ms Flynn was thrown away and men came in to tackle him.

His barrister said during this time the person “terrifyingly appeared to have free rein to kill or stab” many children.

Siobhan Kearney, who had been on a break from attending the Stardust Inquests across the road, told the jury how she tried to get the man to ground after hearing a scream and seeing a man with a carving knife.

Ms Kearney’s brother Liam died as a result of the 1981 fire.

She told the jury that after the man was downed, she locked hands with another person and said “we’re not f****** savages here” as people were continuing to try to “boot in” at him.

Ms Kearney added: “As far as I could see the man was knocked out behind me. He wasn’t going to do any more damage.”

Earlier, the court heard from cyclist Oisin Murphy, who said he saw a man grabbing a child and “planting” it several times into their chest and neck.

Mr Murphy said he also approached the incident and hit the man on the head with his bike lock.

He said others then jumped in and brought the man to the ground.

Mr Murphy then said he went straight to the girl to “check on her welfare”.

He described her as being in a “pool of blood” and “potentially lifeless”.

He said he spoke to a woman who realised she had been stabbed, adding that he had tried to get her a chair from a nearby hotel.

Under cross-examination, Mr Murphy’s memory of the man’s movements was challenged.

He had said he saw a man walking past a line of children and turning around before taking out a large knife and using it in a “downward direction multiple times”.

The barrister for the defence said CCTV seen by the jury showed Bouchaker standing still for a minute and 39 seconds before producing the knife, adding that a previous witness – Ms Flynn – had described the attack as “ferociously jabbing” at a “low-body level”.

Mr Murphy said he did not want to see the CCTV footage of the attack.

However, under questioning from the defence, he said: “If you’ve seen CCTV footage and it says otherwise, it (my recollection) must be wrong.”

The trial before Mr Justice Tony Hunt continues.