Hadi Alodid, 30, was remanded in custody for four weeks after making an appearing in Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
has been named for the first time after appearing in a Belfast court on Wednesday, on an attempted murder charge. Hadi Alodid, 30, was held in jail after an appearance by video in Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday morning.
Alodi, who is from Sudan, was accused of blinding Stephen Ogilvie in his left eye during an attack on Monday, prosecutors said. He was also charged with threatening to kill a radiographer on the same day and with possessing a knife. Alodid refused legal representation through an Arabic interpreter and did not enter a plea.
, in which masked men set fire to several homes they believed to house immigrants, burned trash bins, torched a Belfast bus and pelted police with objects. Firefighters rescued several people from burning homes.
That came after graphic video of the attack in the Kinnaird Avenue area of north Belfast circulated widely online, and was seized on by anti-The suspect is a Sudanese national who entered Northern Ireland in 2023, applied for asylum and was granted leave to remain until 2028, a Home Office spokesperson confirmed to.
“Leave to remain” is the legal permission granted by the U.K. government that allows a non-U.K. citizen to stay in the country for a specific period. “He entered the UK in 2023 and was granted refugee status the same year. The individual claims to have entered the UK via the Common Travel Area,” the spokesperson said.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Ryan Henderson, assistant chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said that police believe the suspect lived close to the area where the attack occurred. He said the suspect is believed to have entered Northern Ireland from the neighboring Republic of Ireland in 2023.
“My understanding is that the individual came into Northern Ireland from Dublin, moving up and then was granted leave to remain,” he said. The Police Service of Northern Ireland said there is no information to suggest the attack is terrorism-related and they are not seeking other suspects. Ogilvie, a man in his 40s, sustained serious injuries to his face and back after being stabbed. He remained in a serious condition in hospital, police said on Tuesday.
In a statement issued through Stafford Ward, an independent councillor, Ogilvie's family said that they want to make it clear that the"overnight unrest is not welcome" and that they do not want"this terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility.
" "We are completely devastated by the horrific attack on our loved one on Kinnaird Avenue. This has been a massive shock to our whole family, and right now, our only priority is being at his bedside and helping him recover," they said in a statement.
"We want to say a profound thank you to the local people who bravely stepped in during the attack. Your quick actions absolutely saved his life, and we will never forget what you did for him in that moment. We also want to thank the emergency services and the doctors and nurses looking after him," they said. The statement added:"We are aware of the tensions and talk of protests following this incident.
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.
"U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer condemned the stabbing attack as “sickening,” but said violence against people based on their background would not be tolerated. “There is no justification for the violence and disorder that we saw threatening our communities, nor for those who encouraged it, online or elsewhere. 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.
" Politicians from both parts of Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government also condemned the violence. First Minister Michelle O’Neill, of Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein, said it was “outright thuggery. ” “Groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice,” she said on X. "This has nothing to do with community. This is outright thuggery.
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. Racism, intimidation and violence are wrong wherever they occur.
" Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, of the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party, said in a statement on X:"Violence does not advance any cause, it damages it. Destroying things within your own community benefits no one. Taking frustration at the evil actions of a person out on those who had no part in it is utterly wrong.
" In another post, she added:"I have also been speaking with the Chief Constable and those PSNI officers on the ground. They are taking significant footage and information and there will be prosecutions over the next number of days. "
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