Key takeaways:
- A 30-year-old Sudanese man is due in court Wednesday charged with attempted murder, possession of a bladed article in public and threats to kill after a north Belfast knife attack.
- The victim, a man in his 40s, remains in hospital with serious injuries after the attack on Kinnaird Avenue at about 10:30 p.m. Monday.
- Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service responded to 62 incidents Tuesday evening, most in the Greater Belfast area, as cars, homes and a bus were set alight.
Masked crowds set fire to homes, cars and a bus in Belfast as disorder spread across Northern Ireland following a knife attack that left a man seriously injured and led to an attempted murder charge against a 30-year-old Sudanese man.
The suspect, whose name has not been released, is due to appear in court Wednesday charged with attempted murder, possession of an article with a blade in a public place and threats to kill. Police said the attack happened on Kinnaird Avenue in north Belfast at about 10:30 p.m. Monday.
The victim, a man in his 40s, remained in hospital with serious injuries to his eyes, neck and back, the BBC reported. Al Jazeera, citing police, said he suffered significant injuries to his eyes and slash wounds to his face and back. Police said they recovered what they believe was a kitchen knife at the scene.
Video widely circulated online showed several members of the public confronting the apparent attacker, including one person wielding a hurling stick, before officers arrived. Senior police officers credited those bystanders with helping save the victim’s life, Al Jazeera reported.
By Tuesday night, protests and disorder had broken out in Belfast and other locations, including Londonderry, Antrim, Newtownabbey, Ballymena and Bangor. Some protests passed peacefully, but violence erupted in several areas. In east Belfast, a group of about 100 masked people gathered on Newtownards Road, where doors were kicked in and windows smashed. A large number were teenagers, Ulster Unionist Party leader Jon Burrows said, according to the BBC.
“Cars were set alight on the road, which caught fire to my house but masked men were bashing down doors,” a resident of Lendrick Street in east Belfast told BBC News.
Bins and a bus were also set on fire. Translink condemned the attack on its bus and suspended public transport services in the city. The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said it responded to 62 incidents Tuesday evening, most of them in the Greater Belfast area, where an additional 21 fire appliances were brought in from across Northern Ireland to meet demand.
Police and fire crews also attended a fire at a commercial premises in Belfast’s Sandy Row area. A police Land Rover was attacked on the Crumlin Road, two cars were set alight at the Cloughfern roundabout in Newtownabbey, a police car was set on fire in Portadown, and a Turkish barber shop was attacked in Ballyclare, County Antrim, the BBC reported.
Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson appealed for “voices of influence within local communities to encourage peaceful protest and discourage any involvement in violence or disorder.” At a news conference, he said the attempted murder would leave people feeling “a range of emotions, from fear to anger,” and appealed “for calm and the safety of all of our communities.” Al Jazeera reported that he declared the unrest a “critical incident.”
Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill condemned what she called “groups of masked men burning families out of their homes” as “outright thuggery.” In a post on X cited by Al Jazeera, she wrote: “Racism, intimidation and violence are wrong wherever they occur. There can be no excuse and no justification for these attacks tonight. No one wants to see this on our streets and I again appeal for calm.”
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly urged peaceful protest, saying: “Violence does not advance any cause, it damages it.” Justice Minister Naomi Long said there was no place for “masked thugs” and added that “hate cannot be allowed to win.” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the knife attack “horrific” and “sickening” and said he had “absolutely no tolerance for abhorrent scenes of violence like this on our streets.”
Police initially said the suspect was Somali, but later confirmed he is Sudanese. The Home Office said he entered the UK in 2023, was granted refugee status that year and has leave to remain until 2028. Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said the suspect was believed to have travelled from Sudan to Paris, then Dublin, before going by bus to Belfast on Feb. 10, 2023, when he claimed asylum. Boutcher said the man was not known to police and did not appear on PSNI national security databases.
Be First to Comment