A 30-year-old Sudanese man appeared in court in Belfast on Wednesday charged with attempted murder following a knife attack that left a victim seriously injured and sparked anti-immigrant violence in several parts of Northern Ireland.
Hadi Alodid, 30, was ordered to remain in prison after appearing on video at Belfast Crown Court, where a coroner said he blinded Stephen Ogilvie in the left eye during the knife attack. He was also accused of having a knife and threatening to kill a radiographer while he was being treated for a hand injury after being attacked.
When police arrived at the crime scene, they found Alodid with the man, armed with a kitchen knife, the detective said. Alodid later told the hospital staff: “I have killed someone, I don’t know if he is dead”, and said, “I will kill you.”
He declined legal representation through an Arabic interpreter and did not enter a plea.
The court appearance followed a night of violence in which masked people set fire to several houses believed to be housing migrants, set fire to rubbish bins, torched a Belfast bus and threw objects at police. Firefighters rescued several people from the burning houses.
Anselme Shima, a Belfast resident originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, said he saw smoke from burning cars near his home.
