A MAN has been found guilty of attempting to murder three children during a 2023 attack in Dublin.
Riad Bouchaker, 52, had denied any wrongdoing but after a trial lasting more than two weeks, a jury took just five hours to find him guilty on all charges.
The Algerian national, who has lived in Ireland for 25 years, was also found guilty of stabbing childcare worker Leanne Flynn who attempted to protect the children.
He was also convicted of assaulting two other children as well as a French teenager who attempted to stop him and of producing a knife capable of inflicting serious injury.
Bouchaker launched his attack at Parnell Square on November 23, 2023 after reportedly receiving a negative decision over social welfare.
The court heard that one of Bouchaker’s victims, a five-year-old girl, now suffers with a life-long brain injury and requires 24-hour care after being stabbed in the heart.
She is now non-verbal, has to be fed through a tube and will be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
Childcare worker Miss Flynn underwent emergency surgery after being stabbed in the back and had to have her spleen removed.
The attack sparked riots across Dublin that night, during which 13 gardaí were injured and millions of euro worth of damage was caused.
Bouchaker had told gardaí he hadn’t intend to kill anyone but offered no evidence in his defence of the prosecution’s case.
Having been sent out on on Tuesday, the jury of nine men and three women returned unanimous verdicts this afternoon.
Bouchaker is due to be sentenced on October 12.
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