{"id":492085,"date":"2026-06-10T08:01:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T08:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/492085\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T08:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T08:01:10","slug":"man-due-in-court-over-belfast-knife-attack-following-night-of-violence-in-city-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/492085\/","title":{"rendered":"Man due in court over Belfast knife attack following night of violence in city \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A man is set to appear in court charged with attempted murder over a stabbing attack following a night of violence in Belfast.<\/a><\/p>\n

People were forced to flee their homes and multiple cars and homes were set alight in the disorder on Tuesday that followed Monday\u2019s knife attack in the north of the city.<\/p>\n

The accused (30), who is Sudanese, is also charged with possession of an article with a blade or point in a public place and making threats to kill.<\/p>\n

He is due to appear at Belfast Magistrates\u2019 Court later on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Following widespread condemnation of the incident, anti-immigration demonstrations took place across Northern Ireland on Tuesday evening, with a number descending into disorder.<\/p>\n

A Glider bus was set alight in east Belfast, prompting all bus and train services to be suspended.<\/p>\n

In Lendrick Street in Belfast, several cars were set alight and Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) officers had to remove some residents from houses after they caught fire.<\/p>\n

A number of houses and vehicles were set on fire near the Ligoniel Road area of Belfast and a police car was set alight in Portadown.<\/p>\n

An NIFRS spokesperson said it had been a \u201cbusy evening responding to a high volume of fire calls\u201d.<\/p>\n

They added: \u201cBetween 7pm and midnight our Regional Control Centre have managed 256 calls resulting in attendance at 62 incidents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe majority of these incidents were in the Greater Belfast Area where an additional 21 fire appliances from across Northern Ireland were required to meet demand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"VehiclesVehicles set on fire on Lendrick Street in Belfast. Photograph: PA\/PA Wire<\/p>\n

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)<\/a> Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said officers had worked alongside partner agencies \u201cresponding to incidents as they arise and helping to keep people safe\u201d.<\/p>\n

Political leaders criticised the violence.<\/p>\n

Northern Ireland Justice Minister Naomi Long said \u201cbad-faith\u201d actors stoking racial tensions on social media should \u201cstep away from their keyboards\u201d following the violence in Belfast.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you weren\u2019t interested in Northern Ireland on Sunday, you don\u2019t need to show interest in Northern Ireland today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking on BBC Breakfast on Wednesday, Long said: \u201cLet us get on with the job of trying to bring calm to our streets, of trying to rebuild our community, of reassuring both people who live in North Belfast and across Belfast.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognise in Northern Ireland that immigration is a vexed issue, and there is a conversation that we can have rationally and logically about that, but there are others who weaponise it to stir up racial tensions, to stir up division in communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long said the disorder was not \u201clogical\u201d or \u201creasonable\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe events that took place the night before caused both fear and consternation, and indeed anger in many parts of Northern Ireland, and we understand that that\u2019s the case, but what happened last night is not a logical or reasonable response to that incident,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe person responsible has now been arrested and charged, and I think it\u2019s important that people allow the justice system and the PSNI to do their job.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"VehiclesVehicles set on fire by protesters on Lendrick Street in Belfast, as disorder flared in response. Photograph: PA <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland\u2019s First Minister, Michelle O\u2019Neill, condemned the \u201coutright thuggery\u201d on Tuesday night. <\/p>\n

\u201cGroups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said: \u201cTaking frustration at the evil actions of a person out on those who had no part in it is utterly wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said: \u201cThe scenes of disorder we have witnessed in some parts of Northern Ireland this evening are only damaging communities and putting innocent lives at risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no justification at all for this type of destruction and thuggery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in MLA for South Belfast Deirdre Hargey has expressed disgust at the violent incidents in Belfast. She told Newstalk Breakfast and RT\u00c9 Radio\u2019s Morning Ireland her first thought at learning of the incidents had been \u201cabsolute\u201d disgust. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe witnessed shameful things last night which have no place on our streets. And I believe the vast majority of people do not want to see this. And when you see family homes burnt to the ground, when you see masked men and mobs of them marching down the street and trying to identify minority ethnic households, it\u2019s reminiscent of the pogroms that took place in Belfast in 1969 in which Catholic homes were targeted in the same way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a reminder for all that none of us want to go back to those times and we all must do what we can in order to stop this violence that\u2019s taken place and to say that it has no place on our streets or in our society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hargey agreed with comments made by local pastor Jack McKee who earlier told Morning Ireland that black people\u2019s homes were being targeted. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see that from the videos and what they were shouting In terms of no immigrants here. This was the language. They were going along streets.\u201d<\/p>\n

They were completely masked up. Some of them were armed. They broke into houses. They broke windows. And they actually set the insides of the homes on fire. So as we awake this morning, we can still smell the smoulder and smoke of homes that have been completely torched and can\u2019t be lived in. \u201cWhat we have also witnessed on our TV screens and on social media are young children, women, older people who had to flee their homes, some of them in the back of police Land Rovers in the darkness of night where hotels and other accommodation had to be stood up in order to house people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think these are shameful scenes of disorder and lawlessness that we witnessed in parts of Belfast last night. And I think those responsible need to be held to account.\u201d<\/p>\n

The victim of Monday\u2019s knife attack, a man aged in his 40s, remains in a serious condition in hospital receiving treatment for serious eye, face and back wounds.<\/p>\n

Detectives have said there is no indication Monday\u2019s knife attack was terror-related.<\/p>\n

The PSNI has opened a \u201ccritical incident\u201d in response to the incident, which was captured on video and appears to show a man stabbing at the victim\u2019s head and neck while he was lying on the ground.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe remains of a Glider bus, set fire by protesters, on the Newtownards Road in east Belfast. Photograph: PA\/PA Wire<\/p>\n

The clip shows people, including a man later named as Maitiu Mag Tighearnan using a hurling stick, intervening to stop the man attacking the victim in the Kinnaird Avenue residential area close to the busy Antrim Road in north Belfast.<\/p>\n

A kitchen knife was recovered from the scene.<\/p>\n

Tighearnan was filmed hitting the assailant five times on the head with the hurley as other people kicked and punched him.<\/p>\n

In a social media post, Tighearnan said he \u201cjust landed there by chance\u201d and managed to \u201cprotect a young lad\u201d. He is understood to have been visiting his partner, who lives on the street where the attack took place.<\/p>\n

Asked on social media why he had intervened and whether he had waited for the police, he said: \u201cMate, I just landed there by chance. Cops were called before I even got out to protect a young lad. As if waiting on cops was my first thought.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police revealed details on the arrested man\u2019s immigration status and how he travelled to the UK.<\/p>\n

He entered Northern Ireland across the Border in February 2023 having flown to Dublin from Paris.<\/p>\n

The suspect claimed asylum upon arrival and in September 2023 was granted leave to remain in the UK until 2028. <\/p>\n

Right-wing commentators from England and the US, including the MP Rupert Lowe and billionaire owner of X Elon Musk, posted about the attack. Musk shared a list of potential protest areas in the UK and wrote: \u201cOnly by protesting REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will there be any change!!\u201d<\/p>\n

Reform UK\u2019s home affairs spokesperson, Zia Yusuf, said: \u201cThe horror of what you have seen in Belfast is a direct result of treacherous Tory and Labour immigration policy. Reform has already announced a total ban on visas for anyone from Sudan. Enough is enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, a far-right agitator who refers to himself as Tommy Robinson, shared the video of the Belfast attack and posted a call for protests in central London and elsewhere in the UK. \u2013 PA\/Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A man is set to appear in court charged with attempted murder over a stabbing attack following a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":492086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,21754,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-492085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-police-service-of-northern-ireland-psni","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}