Riad Bouchaker, the man charged with the attempted murder of three children on a Dublin street, has told gardaí that it was “wrong” to say he was in his “full mind” minutes before the attack. During interviews in December 2023, he repeatedly stated, “I’m sick” and “do to me whatever you want.”
Details of the Attack and Charges
Bouchaker, 52, of no fixed address, is charged with the attempted murder of two girls and one boy, and assault causing serious harm to care worker Leanne Flynn, at Parnell Square East in Dublin City on November 23, 2023. He is also charged with assaulting three other people and with producing a 36cm kitchen knife. He has pleaded not guilty to all eight charges.
His trial at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin, before Mr Justice Tony Hunt, is in its 11th day. On Wednesday, the jury of nine men and three women were shown a video interview with Bouchaker and two detectives conducted on December 21, 2023.
Interview with Detectives
In the interview, Detective Gary Moran referred to visuals from the day of the attack and said to Bouchaker, “you are now attacking the children.” Mr Moran said that Bouchaker is “wrong” to have said earlier “thank God” the children were OK. “The full effects of these incidents will live with these children forever. So you can stop saying that.”
He listed the injuries the children suffered, including an injury to the neck of a five-year-old boy, which a medical statement read out to the court said was a “less than 1cm” laceration that required paper stitches. “This was an attempt to cut his throat, a five-year-old child,” the detective said. He said a girl received a 10mm-deep wound to her head, which a medical statement described as an 8cm-long scalp wound.
“Do to me whatever you want,” Bouchaker replied. Mr Moran said “when you attacked these children”, childcare worker Ms Flynn protected them. “So when you thank God, don’t bother – you can thank Leanne.” Bouchaker replied: “That’s correct and it looks like my mind flew away.”
Mr Moran said another girl was stabbed in the chest and heart, and she was deemed clinically dead before being revived at the scene. The interpreter said he could not initially understand what Bouchaker said in reply, but it was a mixture of “I don’t know what happened”, “I’m a believer” and “I would not harm anyone.”
Allegations of Premeditation
Detective Moran also put it to Bouchaker that he believed he was going to attack another group of children on the same day, but “believed it was too risky” as the children were older and in the presence of adults. He also said Bouchaker “dropped a pin” for the school, waited in the area for 37 minutes before the attack, and was “thinking straight.”
Bouchaker replied: “If you are feeling that way, do whatever you want.” Mr Moran said: “You demonstrate patience.” Bouchaker replied: “That is not correct.” Mr Moran said he demonstrated “restraint, you demonstrate patience, you demonstrate an ability to find a location.” Bouchaker replied: “I was not in the right state of mind.”
Later, Mr Moran put it to Bouchaker that he found the school, asked people for directions, asked where the school was and what time it finished, and answered questions. “You didn’t stab any of those people.” Mr Moran said that Bouchaker went to the back of the school, came around the front and saw older children, and had “the instinct not to attack” the taller children and “went for the smallest children you could find.”
Mr Moran put it to him that when the childcare worker intervened, and after she was injured, “you went back at them again.” “You demonstrate that you had your full mind with you, you made decisions and you carried out this attack.” Mr Bouchaker replied through the interpreter: “That’s wrong, I was not in my mind. I was not in the right state of my mind, I want to be exact about this, I did not know what I was doing, I did something wrong to children when there were no other people.”
Bouchaker's Statements and Medical Background
Mr Moran said: “You were waiting for all the children to come out here. I believe you’re waiting for all the pedestrians to pass, you saw your moment.” Bouchaker replied “I’m sick” and “thank God” that nobody died, to which he was told by detectives that one girl had “life-changing injuries.” Bouchaker replied: “Importantly, I’m a sick person in this incident.”
Mr Moran said that a woman had passed and the bus had left before the attack. “There’s the least amount of people in the area with the most amount of children since you’ve been there.” Bouchaker replied: “Thanks God nothing happened, I’m a sick person, do to me whatever you want.” A Garda asked: “What’s your sickness?” The interpreter said that Bouchaker is “speaking about his shoulder.” A Garda asked: “Did your shoulder cause you to do this?”
Prosecuting barrister Carol Doherty said that when given the chance to review written responses, Bouchaker replied that he was a “sick person” who cannot see from one eye and had been waiting for glasses for three years. He added that maybe “life might be better in here than out there.” The court also heard that Bouchaker is an Irish citizen who has lived in Ireland for around 25 years and has no previous convictions.
Under cross examination from Bouchaker’s defence barrister, Detective Sergeant Pádraig Cleary confirmed that prior to November 2023, Bouchaker had a cognitive impairment from complications arising from brain surgery and that he suffered from seizures. He also confirmed Bouchaker had a portion of skull removed and part of his brain was exposed and more vulnerable to force.
Two psychiatrists agree that the impairment was not significantly severe to say he was not guilty by reason of insanity of the charges he is facing. On November 23, in the aftermath of the attack, during “brave” interventions from the public, Bouchaker was struck in the head, his defence barrister said. The Gardaí agreed that this contributed to an increase in the severity of his cognitive impairment, though psychiatrists disagreed over the extent of his injuries and whether they allowed him to stand trial.
When asked if it was detectives’ views that “no other person” is suspected of any involvement into the incident, including by way of support or encouragement, the sergeant said: “Mr Bouchaker (is) a sole actor in this.” The jury previously heard Bouchaker had brain surgery in 2021 and suffered a further head injury during the interventions of members of the public which required him to receive hospital treatment for roughly a month.
On Tuesday, the jury heard that Bouchaker received a letter, dated November 15, advising him that his application for basic supplementary welfare allowance would be closed or disallowed if he failed to provide certain documents by November 22.
