An Algerian national has been convicted on eight charges, including the attempted murder of three children and causing serious harm to their caregiver, following a knife attack in Dublin in November 2023. The verdicts were delivered at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin.
Riad Bouchaker, 52, was found guilty of attempting to murder a five-year-old girl, who sustained stab wounds to the heart and is now non-verbal, uses a wheelchair, and has difficulty swallowing. He was also convicted of the attempted murder of a five-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl.
Additionally, Bouchaker was found guilty of intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Leanne Flynn, the children's care worker who intervened to protect them, and of assault causing harm to another boy and girl. He was also convicted of assaulting a French teenager who intervened during the attack and of possessing a 36cm kitchen knife.
Bouchaker had denied all charges. His defense team noted he has a mild cognitive impairment resulting from a 2021 craniotomy and a subsequent head injury sustained during the attack. Mr. Justice Tony Hunt ruled in March that Bouchaker was fit to stand trial, acknowledging cognitive limitations but stating they did not equate to unfitness.
CCTV footage presented during the trial showed Bouchaker's movements on the day of the attack, November 23, 2023. In Garda interviews, he stated that hours before the incident, he had ripped up a social welfare refusal letter, feeling "this country is telling me to leave." He described tearing up the document as making him "go into blackout."
Footage documented Bouchaker leaving his hostel, visiting a shopping center, and later a mosque, where he left a suitcase containing clothes he intended to donate. He told investigators he was also carrying the knife he intended to bring "home" to Algeria. The compilation of CCTV evidence showed him near a language school before proceeding to Parnell Square East, where the attack occurred. He was seen on a bus stop before moving towards the children.
The knife attack prompted riots in Dublin, with vehicles set ablaze, shops looted, and infrastructure damaged. The disorder, which began the evening of the attack as a crowd gathered near the crime scene, garnered international attention.