Man accused of Parnell Square stabbing pleads not guilty

Three children were stabbed in the Parnell Square attack in 2023

He has pleaded not guilty to three counts of assault causing harm to two other young children and a passerby.

He also pleaded not guilty to one count of the production of a knife.

The trial of Riad Bouchaker (52) began yesterday at the Central Criminal Court.

According to The Irish Mirror, Mr. Bouchaker suffered an acquired brain injury. However, the judge has stressed that there is "no suggestion Mr Bouchaker was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the incident such that it raises any of the special defences that arise."

Three children were harmed in the stabbing outside Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire on November 23rd, 2023. Two of the children, a five-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl, were released from the hospital shortly after the attack, but one girl remained in Temple Street Hospital for 281 days.

She suffered critical injuries but was eventually discharged from hospital in August 2024.

Childcare worker Leanne Flynn Keogh was also seriously injured after she stepped in to protect the children from the attacker.

Bouchaker was charged with the attempted murder of three children and causing serious harm to a woman in December 2023.

A jury has been sworn in at Dublin's Central Criminal Court this week.