Andreas Becker / Lusa
The suspect is a Sudanese refugee in his 30s. The attack led to anti-immigration riots in Belfast and fires in houses where protesters believe foreigners live.
Northern Ireland is experiencing a wave of violence and protests following the stabbing of a man in his 40s on Monday night in Belfast.
According to authorities, the attack was carried out with a kitchen knife. The victim is hospitalized in serious conditionafter suffering deep cuts on his back and face, and has already lost one of his eyes.
A video circulating online shows several people, including one wielding a hockey stick, confronting the alleged attacker until police arrive and saying that he was trying to decapitate the victim. Authorities praised locals for their actions, which they said saved the man’s life.
Suspect is Sudanese refugee
The suspect behind the attack is a Sudanese man in his 30s with refugee status. The British Home Office reported that the attacker had authorization to remain in the United Kingdom until 2028, after entering the country in 2023.
“The individual claims to have entered the UK through the Common Travel Area,” a spokesperson said.
The man is in custody following the incident. Police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.
Present today by video conference at Belfast Magistrates Court, Hadi Alodid, was detained, having been accused of blinding victim in the left eye during the knife attack.
It was also accused of threatening to kill a radiology technician on the same day and in possession of a sharp weapon, according to prosecutors.
The revelation that the suspect is a foreigner triggered a wave of riots and riots anti-immigration in the city.
Hooded men set fire to several houses where they believed immigrants lived, they burned rubbish bins, set fire to a bus in Belfast and threw objects at the police while shouting “foreigners outside!” Firefighters rescued several people from burning houses.
“We’ve seen police officers and firefighters having to actually rescue families from those buildings, bringing them out through the flames.”
Dan Johnson, BBC News correspondent, describes the violent disorder taking place in Belfast this evening.
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight)
The victim’s own family issued a statement calling for an end to the riots. “We want to make it absolutely clear that nighttime disturbances are not welcome and that peaceful protest is the only solution. We have many immigrants who make an extremely valuable contribution to our country, including in our healthcare system and the hospitality sector, and we depend on them to make our country work”, they say, appealing that this “terrible tragedy is not used to divide people or fuel hostility”.
This is not the first time that there have been disturbances in Northern Ireland following a crime whose suspect is foreign. In Ballymena in 2025, two 14-year-old Romanian boys were arrested on suspicion of raping a teenager, triggering a wave of street violence.
Starmer condemns “unacceptable violence”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called today “shocking” and “completely unacceptable” the acts of violence against immigrants that occurred on Tuesday night in Belfast.
“Nothing can justify violence and disorder we see that threaten our communities, nor the actions of those who encouraged them, on the Internet or elsewhere. It is clear that last night there were people who were targeted because of their origins, and I will not tolerate that,” he wrote on the social network X.
Starmer promised punish those responsible for the riots and thanked local security and emergency forces “for the courage they demonstrated in ensuring people’s safety.”
“Appealing for calm must be the priority, and that is what I urge at this time. We have to let the police do their job”, he highlighted.
The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland also condemned the violence and considered that “groups of masked men expelling families from their homes It’s disgusting cowardice“.
“This has nothing to do with the community. This is pure trickery. The attack in north Belfast was heinous and wrong. But there are dangerous attempts to exploit this, to target and attack innocent people who are simply trying to live, work and raise their families here,” he highlighted.
