Hadi Alodid, a 30-year-old Sudanese national, appeared in court on attempted murder and knife charges after an attack that left Steven Ogilvy hospitalized with severe injuries and sparked overnight riots in Belfast.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A 30-year-old Sudanese national accused in what has been described as an attempted beheading in north Belfast appeared in court Wednesday as officials condemned overnight riots that followed the attack and warned that those responsible for violence would face prosecution.
Hadi Alodid appeared before a Belfast court by video link from the high-security Musgrave Street Police Barracks, according to the BBC. He was charged with attempted murder, possession of a knife in a public place and making threats to kill.
The victim, Steven Ogilvy, remains hospitalized in serious condition. The court heard that Ogilvy lost one eye, suffered serious damage to the other and sustained deep cuts to his neck.
Alodid refused legal representation, and the few responses he gave to the judge were made through an Arabic interpreter. He did not respond when the charges were read in court.
The threat-to-kill charge stemmed from an alleged incident at a Belfast hospital after Alodid’s arrest. Police had taken him there for treatment, and the court heard that he told an NHS radiographer, “I’ll kill you.” A Police Service of Northern Ireland detective also told the court that Alodid said while in the hospital, “I’ve killed someone, I don’t know if they are dead,” according to The Guardian.
Alodid was denied bail after police argued his release could risk “significant public disorder.” He was remanded in custody until his next court appearance in July.
The judge also addressed the public during the hearing, warning that people involved in the anti-beheading protests that turned into riots Tuesday night should “expect to go to prison,” the BBC reported.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer condemned the violence that followed the attack, calling the overnight scenes “shocking and completely unacceptable.”
“It is clear that people were targeted last night because of their background and I will not tolerate it. Those responsible will feel the full force of the law,” Starmer said.
Speaking later in the House of Commons, Starmer said the riot was “totally unjustified.”
The unrest began after peaceful protests over the attack escalated into disorder in several parts of Belfast. The BBC reported that in one case, an African family was inside a home on Crumlin Road when its windows were broken. A priest said families were being forced from homes “because they’re black.” In another part of the city, a group of about 100 masked men were reported to have kicked in doors while saying they were “getting the foreigners out.”
PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said 200 additional officers were being flown into Ulster from Great Britain to patrol the streets amid concerns over further protests. Boutcher also warned that police would pursue people accused of inciting disorder online.
“It’s very easy these days, especially to look online and be persuaded by people who know nothing about Northern Ireland, know nothing about the communities in Northern Ireland, know nothing about the history of Northern Ireland, to take actions that they otherwise would not take… Stop looking at this nonsense. Stop listening to these idiots. We will be going after them for the incitement that they’ve been doing… [you] will know who were online last night and inciting this behaviour. They will know what they were doing. We will be going after them,” Boutcher said.
The riots came after footage circulated of Monday evening’s stabbing attack, showing a man repeatedly stabbing another man’s neck. The video intensified tensions in Northern Ireland, where immigration-related protests had previously taken place.
Police said Tuesday morning they had arrested a man in his 30s from Sudan. He had been granted leave to remain by the UK Home Office in 2023 after traveling through Paris and Dublin and entering UK territory through the open border with the Irish Republic.
According to the Belfast Telegraph, protests were held across the city after the attack, with some descending into chaos. Rioters set multiple vehicles on fire, including a city bus and a police car.
Reports also described petrol bombs being thrown at police officers in the Cloughfern area. In East Belfast, residents were forced to evacuate after homes caught fire.
Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill appealed for calm and said the unrest was not a legitimate community response.
“This has nothing to do with community… this is outright thuggery,” O’Neill said.
“The attack in North Belfast was heinous and wrong. But there are dangerous attempts to exploit that to target and attack innocent people who are simply trying to live, work and raise their families here,” she said.
“Groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice… Racism, intimidation and violence are wrong wherever they occur. There can be no excuse and no justification for these attacks tonight. No one wants to see this on our streets and I again appeal for calm.”
The Belfast disorder came one year after similar anti-migrant riots erupted in Northern Ireland following charges against Roma migrant teenagers accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in Ballymena. That unrest lasted several days and reportedly led several Romanian and Bulgarian families to leave the area after homes were targeted in suspected arson attacks.
Before Tuesday’s violence, Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister urged Belfast residents not to “fall into the trap” of using violence in response to the attack.
Allister said people had a “right to be angry” over the attack and what he described as the importation of an “alien culture” against their will. But he warned that violence would allow Starmer to “talk in dismissive terms about right-wing extremists and about people indulging in violence” rather than addressing the underlying issue.
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