Hadi Alodid refused legal representation. made no reply to charges which were put put to him through an Arabic interpreter as he appeared in court charged with attempted murder following the Belfast knife attack, the Press Association reports.
double quotation mark The 30-year-old. with an address at Duncairn Avenue in Belfast, appeared before the city’s magistrates’ court on Wednesday morning.
He is charged with the attempted murder of Stephen Ogilvie on Monday, with threatening to kill an NHS radiographer on the same day. with the possession of a knife.
He appeared in court via videolink. made no reply to the charges when they were put to him through the interpreter.
The victim of the stabbing lost his left eye in the attack, the court was told.
A Belfast judge has warned that anyone who plans to take part in further disorder in Northern Ireland should “be prepared to go to prison”. said the courts “won’t tolerate” any attacks on emergency services, the Press Association reports. PA says:
double quotation mark After refusing bail for a man charged with attempted murder in a stabbing incident preceding riots. violence in Belfast, judge Stephen Keown commended the emergency services who came to the aid of the victim.
Speaking at Belfast magistrates’ court this morning, he said that the court’s thoughts were with the victim, the members of the public who intervened. the emergency services who went to the victims’ aid.
He said those members of the public, the police and the emergency services should be commended.
He said that emergency services who had helped the victim now coming “under attack is something the courts won’t tolerate”.
He noted that there is a call on social media for men aged over 18 to close streets, wear dark clothes. to be prepared to fight and be arrested.
He said that anyone involved in attacks on the community. members of the community can “also expect to go to prison, and that message should be sent out loud and clear”.
A detective told Belfast magistrates’ court today that Stephen Ogilvie. the man injured in the stabbing attack on Monday, had lost his left eye, the Press Association reports. PA says:
double quotation mark She also told the court that the defendant said “I’ve killed someone, I don’t know if they are dead” while in hospital receiving treatment for a hand injury. told medical staff “I will kill you”.
The detective told the court. at 10.30pm on Monday police received report of a serious assault in the Kinnaird Avenue area. She said they found the defendant armed with a knife at the scene. removed him from on top of the victim.
She said the victim has lost his left eye, and has deep cuts to his head, face and back.
As PA reports. the detective also said the police were opposing bail because there was a fear it would lead to “significant public disorder” if the accused, Hadi Alodid, was released due to “strong public feeling” about the incident. PA says:
double quotation mark Police said they “strongly” opposed bail on the grounds. Alodid is charged with an “extremely serious offence” that has “garnered serious media attention”.
The detective said if further offences were committed they would be “serious. unpredictable in nature”, and said the applicant is from Sudan and has links outside of the jurisdiction.
She also told the court he may fear for his own safety or fear a possible long custodial sentence.
The defendant made no reply.
District judge Stephen Keown said the risks were “far too great”. would be “unmanageable by any bail conditions”, and refused bail due to the risk of reoffending, risk of harm to the public, risk of public disorder and risk of flight.
He is next due to appear in court in four weeks’ time.
Hadi Alodid has been remanded in custody at Belfast magistrates’ court for four weeks after being charged with the attempted stabbing murder of Stephen Ogilvie, threats to kill an NHS radiographer. possession of a knife, the Press Association reports.
At his press conference. Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, condemned the violence in Belfast last night as “utterly unacceptable”. He said:
double quotation mark Lawful protest is of course something that is a vital part of a democracy, but everybody has to understand that there is a huge difference between expressing one’s concern for what is going on lawfully, peacefully, respectfully,. violence, criminal activities, sort of the fires we saw last night, damage to public property – totally and utterly unacceptable.
But. in response to a subsequent question, Tice got angry when asked by a Channel 4 News reporter if the rioting in Belfast last night may have been related to Nigel Farage urging people to react last week with “pure cold rage” to the murder of Henry Nowak.
Tice said that claim was “absolutely ridiculous” and “outrageous”. When the reporter tried to press on with his question, Tice said that he had given his answer. that it had been “a revolting accusation to make”. He added: “And you should be ashamed of yourself.”
Farage made his statement on Tuesday morning last week. That night a protest in Southampton culminated in violence.
Hadi Alodid refused legal representation. made no reply to charges which were put put to him through an Arabic interpreter as he appeared in court charged with attempted murder following the Belfast knife attack, the Press Association reports.
double quotation mark The 30-year-old. with an address at Duncairn Avenue in Belfast, appeared before the city’s magistrates’ court on Wednesday morning.
He is charged with the attempted murder of Stephen Ogilvie on Monday, with threatening to kill an NHS radiographer on the same day. with the possession of a knife.
He appeared in court via videolink. made no reply to the charges when they were put to him through the interpreter.
The victim of the stabbing lost his left eye in the attack, the court was told.
At the Reform UK press conference, the first question came from a GB News reporter who said that Suella Braverman, Reform’s education spokesperson, was home secretary when the Belfast knife attack suspect was granted leave to remain in the UK,. Robert Jenrick, Reform’s Treasury spokesperson, was an immigration minister. The reporter asked why people with a record like that could be trusted on immigration.
This is a line that is being used by Rupert Lowe, the Restore Britain leader. Lowe was elected as a Reform UK MP, but he left after a row with Nigel Farage. his party, which is even more extreme than Farage’s on immigration, is challenging Reform in the Makerfield byelection where it is splitting the rightwing vote in a way that could cost Reform the seat.
In response, Richard Tice, Reform UK’s deputy leader, said that Braverman. Jenrick could be trusted on this issue because “they had the courage to fight for what they believed in”. Braverman was ultimately sacked because of her political views, and Jenrick resigned, he said. “So they actually showed themselves to be politicians of conviction, of courage,” he claimed.
Keir Starmer has issued a statement about the rioting in Belfast last night. He says people were targeted because of their background (he means race – but doesn’t say so explicitly),. says the government won’t tolerate this.
He also condemns those who “encouraged” the disorder online. This seems like a clear reference to Elon Musk – although the PM does not refer to him by name.
double quotation mark The scenes in Belfast last night were shocking and completely unacceptable.
There is no justification for the violence. 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.
I’ve spoken to the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland to convey my thanks to them. the frontline emergency services for their bravery in keeping people safe. I’ve also spoken to the first minister and deputy first minister to discuss the ongoing situation.
Appealing for calm must be the priority, and that is what I urge now. We must let the police get on with their work.
Richard Tice, the Reform UK deputy leader, is holding a press conference. He is speaking about fly tipping, which he says has become a “national disgrace”. He is announcing proposals for tougher laws to deal with the problem,. says his part will organise a “national action day” day on 4 July when activists will organise clean-ups.
Severin Carrell is the Guardian’s Scotland editor.
Police in central Glasgow threw up cordons last night to prevent several hundred largely masked anti-migrant protestors from moving through the city centre, as other agitators gathered in central Edinburgh. Ayr.
Footage on social media appeared to show an abusive attack on two black men on Buchanan Street in Glasgow. as a large group, some carrying union flags, marched down towards the St Enoch shopping centre. The police blocked then roads leading into the city centre and on a bridge south over the Clyde.
A large group also gathered on Princes Street. in St Andrews Square in Edinburgh, brandishing saltires and lighting blue flares, and reportedly in Ayr. No arrests have yet been reported by police.
In a social media post, the Glasgow branch of Stand up to Racism said:
double quotation mark Masked-up racist thugs have assembled at Buchanan steps and marched down the street. The livestream by one of their supporters shows marchers stealing a bike from a delivery driver and beating up passers-by.
Glaswegians of all backgrounds. and of all faiths and none will stand together against any attempts to spread violence and hatred in our communities. Time and again we have shown the far right a majority of us reject their poison.
Naomi Long, the minister of justice of Northern Ireland. leader of the Alliance party, has said that last night’s rioting was fuelled by people online who “would have struggled to find Belfast on a map”. Jamie Grierson has the story.
Jon Boutcher. the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, has defended his force’s decision to tell the public yesterday that the man arrested for the Belfast knife attack on Monday night was Sudanese.
In an interview on the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster, he said:
double quotation mark We have learned that if we don’t give information, then online misinformation. lies lead to people believing things that aren’t true and start to mindlessly conduct attacks – and that was what happened at Southport not that long ago.
Asked about the force originally suggesting the suspect was from Somalia, Boutcher said:
double quotation mark We said we ‘believe’ that because that was the information that we were given after the incident occurred. we’re always going to get more detailed information as time passes by.
I was pushing very directly with the Home Office to give us the information. we required so that we could comply with the lessons learned previously.
Here is our report by Hannah Al-Othman and Rory Carroll on the rioting in Belfast last night.
And here is Guardian video of a bus being set on fire.
Anna Turley. the Labour party chair, said that what Elon Musk had done in trying to stir up unrest in the UK after the Belfast knife attack was “appalling”.
In an interview on LBC, asked how the government viewed Musk’s actions. how he was trying to “whip up unrest”, she replied:
double quotation mark I think it’s appalling. Anyone that is seeking to drive. exploit a situation like this to drive their own political agenda is grievously wrong and doing damage.
He’s not someone who’s having to live in a community where the consequences of this. of the anger that is whipped up, [are felt].
We’ve seen children, families having to flee their homes on the streets of Belfast last night.
We do not want to see this kind of disruption, damage, thuggery, violence on our streets,. anyone that is seeking to whip that up should be condemned.
Asked if the government should boycott X, Musk’s social media platform, in response, Turley said:
double quotation mark I think about that all the time.
I think that there are lots of concerns about X. I personally find it a really positive way to engage with some of my constituents,. there’s no doubt that there are some really deeply worrying messages being conveyed through social media.
We are concerned about the use of disinformation in our democracy. These are things that I know the government is taking very seriously in looking at.
Good morning. Soon after becoming PM in 2024, Keir Starmer had to deal with a period of rioting in England, prompted by the Southport murders. mostly targeted at asylum seekers. Last night, in Northern Ireland, there were similar race riots, triggered by a knife attack involving a Sudanese suspect. Here is our overnight story about the rioting.
And this is what Claire Hanna, the SDLP leader. MP for Belfast South and Mid Down, said about the attacks on Newsnight last night.
double quotation mark What you’re seeing is a race-based pogrom. We are seeing men going door to door asking to get the foreigners out based exclusively on the colour of their skin. It’s not based on what they’re contributing to society, what their status here is. it’s terrifying for people in Belfast who want this sort of politics to be far beyond them.
Starmer is taking PMQs at noon and the Belfast disorder is likely to be the main talking point.
There are two issues that Starmer will be expected to address.
1) What is he going to do about the common travel area asylum “loophole”? The Belfast knife attack suspect was an asylum seeker who had been granted leave to remain in the UK three years ago,. he did not arrive on a small boat. He arrived in Belfast from Dublin, having flown to Ireland from Paris,. then – because of the common travel area – he was able to cross the border into Northern Ireland without facing any checks. Starmer is under pressure to close this “loophole”, as the Telegraph calls it, although a version of the common travel area has been in force for more than a century. so it has hard to see how it can be closed without colossal upheaval.
2) What is he going to do about rightwingers using social media to incite people in Northern Ireland to riot? Elon Musk. the billionaire owner of X, played a key role last night in amplifying calls for protests after the Belfast knife attack. He has been at it again overnight. Again, it is not obvious what Starmer can do about this,. he is bound to be asked whether this is tolerable.
Anna Turley, the Labour party chair and Cabinet Office minister, has been giving interviews this morning. Speaking to Sky News, she said the common travel area should not be used as “a back route for people to come here. exploit our asylum system”. She also said “conversations are happening” in government about what could be done to stop this.
double quotation mark If people are exploiting the common travel agreement in this way, that’s not acceptable. That’s not what it’s there for.
It’s been in existence for over 100 years. it’s absolutely right that people can travel between the island and Northern Ireland freely.
But it’s really important we make sure that we have a fair system that is led by data. intelligence, and we make sure that people are not able to exploit the asylum system.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.15am: Sarah Jones, the policing minister, speaks at the launch of the new national policing AI centre PoliceAI.
10am: Richard Tice. the Reform UK deputy leader, holds a press conference, which is meant to be about the party’s plans to deal with fly-tipping.
Morning: A man will appear at Belfast magistrates’ court charged with attempted murder after the knife attack on Monday night.
Morning: Hilary Benn. the Northern Ireland secretary, is in Belfast meeting the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Jon Boutcher.
11am: Jim Mackey, the NHS England chief executive, speaks at the NHS ConfedExpo 2026 in Manchester.
Noon: Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch at PMQs
5pm: John Healey, the defence secretary,. Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, are due to speak at press conference in London with their Australian counterparts, after the annual UK-Australia defence/security summit.
I’m afraid comments won’t be open this morning because we are focusing on a story where criminal proceedings are live. which creates a contempt of court risk.
If you want to flag something up urgently to me, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account,. if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all,. I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
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