‘Sickening’ racist riots condemned as Sudanese man remanded over Belfast attack

By Press Association Reporters

Police are braced for more violence after “sickening” racist disorder as a Sudanese man was remanded in custody over the Belfast knife attack which triggered the unrest.

Hadi Alodid, 30, appeared in court charged with attempted murder over Monday’s knife attack in which victim Stephen Ogilvie lost an eye.

The reaction to the incident saw mobs set homes, a bus and cars on fire, with people targeted based on their race.

Police fear further violence in the wake of the attack, which was captured on video and has been widely shared online, with high-profile social media accounts using the incident to call for street protests.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer vowed to “crack down on anyone who is fuelling this division”.

Alodid appeared before Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday morning charged with the attempted murder of Mr Ogilvie, with threats to kill an NHS radiographer and with possession of a knife.

The court heard Mr Ogilvie lost his left eye and suffered deep cuts to his head, face and back.

Alodid, who appeared in court via video link, made no reply to the charges when they were put to him through an Arabic interpreter.

The court heard Alodid said “I’ve killed someone, I don’t know if they are dead” while in hospital receiving treatment for a hand injury and told medical staff “I will kill you”.

District Judge Stephen Keown refused bail after hearing police concerns there could be “significant public disorder” if he was released due to “strong public feeling” about the incident.

The judge warned that anyone who plans to take part in further disorder in Northern Ireland should “be prepared to go to prison”.

In Westminster, security minister Dan Jarvis said: “Reports that ethnic minorities were targeted are sickening.”

The Prime Minister said the rioting in Belfast was “shocking and completely unacceptable”.

“It is clear that people were targeted last night because of their background and I will not tolerate it,” he said.

“Those responsible will feel the full force of the law.”

Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said 200 more officers would be on the streets on Wednesday night.

“We will deal with this,” he said.

“We will be on the streets tonight in numbers even more than we were last night, and we have got arrangements in hand to get mutual aid that will be arriving here tomorrow.”

Mr Jarvis told MPs there had been three arrests “but more will surely follow”.

Mr Ogilvie’s family said in a statement they were “devastated by the horrific attack” but pleaded for calm.

“We are aware of the tensions and talk of protests following this incident,” the statement said.

“We want to make it absolutely clear that overnight unrest is not welcome, and peaceful protest is the only way forward.

“We have many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country, including in our healthcare system and hospitality sector and we depend on them to make our country work.

“We do not want this terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility.”

In other developments:

– Two police officers were injured as they tackled the violence in Belfast.

– There were three arrests as two police officers and three members of the public were injured in Glasgow after the unrest spread to Scotland.

– Some schools in Northern Ireland were closed due to the risk of further unrest.

– Lord Mayor of Belfast, Sinn Féin’s Róis-Máire Donnelly, said she had received death threats.

– The Stormont Executive was holding an emergency online meeting.

– Northern Ireland public transport operator Translink said no buses would depart after 5pm and train departures will stop at 6pm “due to expected protests”.

Police forces across the UK are monitoring intelligence on protests and have plans in place to allow them to mobilise officers should further disorder break out.

Online posts from people including Elon Musk, the boss of social media platform X, and far-right activist Tommy Robinson highlighted demands for people to take to the streets in the wake of Monday’s attack.

Northern Ireland’s Justice Minister Naomi Long said social media agitators who “yesterday would have struggled to find Belfast on a map” were “weaponising the fear that people genuinely have about what happened”.

“Because, ultimately, if you’re driving people from their homes based on nothing but the colour of their skin, you can’t dress that up any other way, it’s racism, and those bad faith actors need to take a step back,” Ms Long told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

A Glider bus was set alight in east Belfast, in Lendrick Street several cars were burned and Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service officers had to remove some residents from houses after they caught fire.

A number of houses and vehicles were set on fire near the Ligoniel Road area of Belfast and a police car was set alight in Portadown.

Twenty-seven people were made homeless on Tuesday night “because people went door-to-door to try and target foreign nationals to burn them out of their homes”, Cabinet Office minister Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent told the House of Lords.

A two-month-old baby was among those rescued during the violence, the chief constable said.

Ulster Unionist Party leader Jon Burrows witnessed disorder on the Newtownards Road in east Belfast.

“These were mostly children less than 16, faces covered and believing that their patriotic duty was to go and set fire to a Glider bus, to try and find homes that were linked to immigrants. Those scenes were absolutely horrendous,” he told Good Morning Ulster.

Anselme Shima, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who lives with his wife, two sons and daughter near Lendrick Street, said it was a “very scary moment” for his family.

He told the Press Association: “It’s just a terrifying moment, we don’t know what to do. I’m scared. Seeing this, I’m wondering if I’m next. If this happened (again), is my house the next to be attacked? I don’t know.”

Monday’s attack was captured on video and appears to show a man stabbing at the victim’s head and neck while he was lying on the ground.

The clip shows people, including one with a hurling stick, intervening to stop the attack in the Kinnaird Avenue residential area close to the busy Antrim Road in north Belfast.

Alodid entered Northern Ireland across the Irish border in February 2023 having flown to Dublin from Paris.

He claimed asylum upon arrival and in September 2023 was granted leave to remain in the UK until 2028.

Democratic Unionist Party leader Gavin Robinson said the “open porous border” with Ireland should be closed following the “medieval” knife attack.

But Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said there was “strong co-operation between the UK authorities and the Irish authorities in seeking to deal with illegal migration across the Common Travel Area, but the answer is not to say the Common Travel Area is the problem”.

A Glider bus, on the Newtownards Road in east Belfast is removed, after it was set on fire during an anti-immigration demonstration organised in response to Monday night's stabbing (Liam McBurney/PA Wire)