The mother of the young girl seriously injured in the Parnell Square attack has said that Riad Bouchaker’s conviction has not brought closure despite justice being served.
Her daughter, who was five years old at the time of the attack, was left with a severe, life-long brain injury after Bouchaker stabbed her in the heart.
Yesterday, Bouchaker was found guilty of the attempted murder of three children at Parnell Square in Dublin in November 2023.
In a post on a fundraising page set up to help the girl and her family, the injured girl’s mother said that yesterday was “a good day”.
“I was asked if it brought some closure. The simple answer to that is NO,” she said.
She added: “There will never be closure, but justice was served.
“I feel relief knowing that what happened to us by the hands of that man will not happen to anyone else.”
Speaking to Sky News yesterday, she said she will never know what her daughter would have been like if her life had progressed in a natural way because Bouchaker “stole that from her”.
Today, the woman said that seeing her daughter battle every day in her condition and not getting to be the “full bubbly version” of herself, “chips away” from her “already aching heart”.
“But I, we persevere because she needs us and deserves a chance. A chance at happiness.
“That is what parents want for their children: health and happiness. Since I cannot guarantee the former, I will work my hardest for the latter.
“This chapter is over. We have woken up today with a bit of solace.”
Yesterday, the girl’s mother said that she feels no anger toward Bouchaker because “it’s not going to change anything”.
In her post today, she clarified what she meant by “not feeling anger”.
She wrote: “I feel all the emotions, but the negative, I choose my absolute best not to allow them to linger because I do not have time for them to allow them to consume me.
“My daughter, my son and my husband need me.
“Be kind to one another,” she concluded.
Read more:
Man guilty of attempted murder of three children at Parnell Square
‘We’re not savages’ – the full story of Parnell Square attack
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Parnell Square attack: What the jury did not hear
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