Riad Bouchaker Trial: Defence Suggests Intimidation, Not Stabbing, in Dublin Knife Incident

Riad Bouchaker's defence barrister suggested his client may have intended to terrify and intimidate, not stab, when he waved a knife near children on a Dublin street on November 23, 2023. This occurred during an incident where one child sustained severe injuries.

Witness Catherine Carbery, testifying via video-link from Melbourne, stated she saw a man «appearing to attack» a child with a knife near Parnell Square. Under cross-examination, she maintained her belief that he was injuring the child, despite the defence's suggestion of intimidation without stabbing. Her sister, Alison Carbery, testified she saw the man «stabbing one of the children» and could «definitively say the knife was plunged into the torso of the child.»

Former garda Adam Kealy, one of the first officers on scene, found Mr. Bouchaker prone and being restrained by a Dublin Fire Brigade member. Kealy handcuffed and searched Bouchaker, finding no weapons. Tests at Mater Hospital showed Bouchaker's urine was negative for toxins.

Carlos Antonio Lopes dos Santos witnessed the incident, seeing a man with a knife holding children and moving the knife. He recalled the third child, a girl, being struck «very profoundly, very deeply» in the stomach or chest area. He later saw a girl covered in blood receiving paramedic aid, believing it was the same girl he saw stabbed. Mr. Bouchaker, 52, of no fixed address, is on trial at the Central Criminal Court, charged with attempted murder of two girls and one boy, assault causing serious harm to crèche worker Leanne Flynn, assaulting two other children and an adult male, and producing a knife. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. The trial is expected to last up to five weeks.