Riad Bouchaker found guilty of attempted murder of three children in Dublin’s Parnell Square knife attack
A jury at Dublin’s Central Criminal Court convicted Riad Bouchaker of attempting to murder three small children and assaulting a crèche worker during a knife rampage at Parnell Square East in November 2023. The unanimous verdict came after about six hours of deliberation spread over two days.
Verdict details
A 52‑year‑old man, Riad Bouchaker, was found guilty on all eight charges stemming from the attack outside a Dublin creche on 23 November 2023. The jury returned unanimous verdicts of attempted murder on two girls and a boy, causing serious harm to Leanne Flynn, a childcare worker, and assault causing harm to two other children and a teenage trainee chef who intervened. Bouchaker was also convicted of producing a 36 cm knife in a manner likely to intimidate.
The trial and charges
Bouchaker, an Algerian national of no fixed abode, had pleaded not guilty to all counts. The trial lasted 16 days at the Central Criminal Court. The defence had applied to have some charges dismissed, arguing insufficient evidence for attempted murder on two of the children, but Mr Justice Tony Hunt rejected the application. The judge said the jury could infer intent from the fact that Bouchaker, a large man, used a knife against the head, neck or torso of a small child.
when a large man used a knife against the head, neck or torso of a small child, he had an intention to kill
The jury heard that the most seriously injured girl, then aged five, was stabbed in the heart and required emergency life‑saving surgery. For her, Hunt gave the jury alternative verdicts of guilty of attempted murder or guilty of intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm; for the other two children he allowed the alternative of guilty of assault causing harm.
Deliberations and jury directions
The jury of nine men and three women began deliberating late on Tuesday, 30 June 2026, spending about one hour before being sent home. They resumed at 10:43 am on Wednesday and asked to hear again the judge’s directions on the law of attempted murder and assault causing harm, along with transcripts of evidence from several witnesses, including Leanne Flynn, and the closing speeches. Before they retired, Judge Hunt had instructed them to be “objective”, “rational” and “forensic”, and reminded them that justice is not done by a “mob outside Parkgate St”.
put emotions firmly to one side
The jury deliberated for around six hours in total before returning to court with the guilty verdicts on Wednesday afternoon.
Background to the attack
On the afternoon of 23 November 2023, Bouchaker struck as children were being collected from a creche on Parnell Square East. He waited until the last pedestrian had left and the crèche worker was momentarily distracted zipping up a child’s coat. Using the knife, he attacked three children and injured Flynn, who tried to shield them. A trainee chef, Alan Guille, was also assaulted when he attempted to intervene. Bouchaker spent about three weeks in hospital after being overpowered by members of the public. A pretrial hearing had considered his fitness to plead because of an acquired brain injury, but Hunt ruled he could stand trial with the assistance of an interpreter and an intermediary.
