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A jury at the Central Criminal Court has been shown CCTV of the moment a man launched a knife attack on a group of children who were standing outside a school on Parnell Square on the 23rd of November 2023.
Gardaí harvested 49 CCTV exhibits, which were compiled into a montage by Garda Ciarán Fury, which the prosecution argues show the suspects’ movements before and during the attack.
At the end of the montage, the jury was shown the moment a man dressed in a black cap, black jacket, and blue jeans attacked the line of children at 1:45 pm.
52-year-old Algerian, Riad Bouchaker, who came to Ireland as an asylum seeker about 25 years ago, is charged that on the 23rd of November 2023, outside the school on Parnell Square. Dublin 1, he attempted to murder a male child, attempted to murder two female children, and caused serious harm to a care worker.
He was also charged with assault causing harm in respect of another male child, assault causing harm in respect of a female child, assault causing harm in respect of a French national, and one count of production of a 36cm kitchen knife.
The court heard that images were collected from the De Paul Hostel on Little Britain Street, ILAC centre, the Charles Stewart Hotel, Delfin Language School, Arisu Photo, Staycity Little Mary Street, SPAR O’Connell Street, Murray’s Bar and Grill, also on O’Connell Street, Cassidy’s Hotel, and Dublin Bus.
Carl Finnegan SC, prosecuting, led the jury through the images from the first clip, which he said showed a male leaving a bedroom at the De Paul Hostel on Little Britain wearing a black cap and jacket, and blue jeans, carrying a backpack.
The male walks past Toymaster on Mary Street before entering the ILAC Centre, where he went to Dunnes Stores. There, the suspect visited a cafe where he met and sat with two other men for about two minutes.
CCTV showed the male and one of the men he had been sitting with standing in front of lifts where they appeared to be going through “paper documents”, Mr Finnegan said.
A short time later, the male with the black cap could be seen ripping up a piece of paper, which he then threw into an area where there was a Christmas tree in the centre of the ILAC complex.
The male then went past Toymaster again towards Capel Street before returning to the De Paul Hostel and entering a room there.
A short time later, he emerged from the room with a backpack and a “wheeling suitcase”. He was wearing sunglasses and appeared to throw “shoes or runners” into a bin before leaving the hostel at 12:01.
At 12:17, he entered a building on 8-9 Talbot Street, where he had a number of interactions with males inside the building.
Mr Finnegan said that the suspect appeared to have “some discussions” over “perhaps the contents” of the bag, and that he appeared to have a key in his hand. A short time later, he spoke with a male in a blue jacket before leaving the building.
The male was caught on CCTV at Carroll’s on Talbot Street at 12:27 before he headed on in the direction of Parnell Street. At two points, Mr Finnegal said that the male appeared to have some interactions with passersby, with one of a group of males seeming to look back after he had passed by.
The male entered the rear grounds of the Delfin English school on Rutland Row before entering the building through the back door at approximately 12:36.
After the suspect exited the building, he walked up towards the direction of Gardiner Row before coming back and standing in the laneway looking around and came back down the laneway towards Parnell Square.
At 12:47, he passed the rear of the Delfin school again towards Gardiner Row before entering the back yard for a second time. He looked towards the rear of the school where the attack took place.
Mr Finnegan said that the suspect then takes “what appears to be an apple” from his backpack at 12:51 before he leaves the yard back to the laneway and “off campus”.
At 12:54, the suspect was seen outside the rear of Delfin near Rutland Place, walking towards Parnell Square, before he was seen walking to Parnell Square to the front entrance of the Delfin School.
At 12:59 to 1 pm, CCTV showed the suspect seemingly walking behind a line of children with his backpack held in front of him, Mr Finnegan said.
CCTV from Cassidy’s Hotel showed the suspect at the junction of Parnell Square and Rutland Place until 1:32 when he “walks” towards the school where the attack took place, the jury heard.
He stopped at a bus stop outside the school where CCTV from Dublin Bus showed him on front and rear cameras at 1:35 pm.
The suspect was then seen on CCTV from the Charles Stewart Hotel standing at the bus stop holding a backpack in front of him before he was “seen moving towards a group of children,” Mr Finnegan continued, adding that the male stood at the bus stop for one minute and 46 seconds before “moving towards the children”.
The final clip shown to the jury was a slow-motion zoomed-in clip of the incident.
Mr Bouchaker denies all charges as the trial continues.
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