One of the women who protected Riad Bouchaker after he tried to murder children on Parnell Square said she got “very emotional” when he was convicted in court of all eight charges against him. 

The 52-year-old had denied eight charges in relation to the knife attack in Parnell Square in November 2023, with his defence arguing that he was not in his right mind at the time. 

However, the jury did not believe him and found him guilty of the attempted murder of three children, guilty of stabbing childcare worker Leanne Flynn and four other charges. 

One woman who gave evidence against Bouchaker was Siobhán Kearney, who had been attending the Stardust Inquest in the nearby Rotunda Hospital. 

On Newstalk Breakfast, Ms Kearney said she felt relieved that victims got the justice they deserved. 

“I was keeping an eye on the jury and when it did come in I got very emotional,” she recalled. 

“I put my phone down and I went for a walk and tried to just digest what them families were going through. 

“Terrible; I can't help but think of the children and the mothers and knowing that from that day their lives changed - much like our lives changed the night of the fire. 

“The trauma that you have to live with is horrendous.”

Ms Kearney remembers hearing an “unmerciful scream” and spun around to a scene of horror. 

“It was a scream that somebody needed help and I just glanced across the road and because I'm a chef, the first thing I seen was the knife,” she described. 

“The man with the knife, he was in a stabbing motion. 

“So, I just took off across the street screaming, ‘He's stabbing the children.’” 

An Garda Síochána in Parnell Square. Picture by: Sasko Lazarov / © RollingNews.ie

Ms Kearney recalled grabbing Bouchaker by his coat and that he fell at her feet. At this point, she realised he was unconscious and people wanted to be “quite vicious” to him. 

Fearing they might kill him, she and another woman locked hands to form a protective chain around him. 

“It was savagery that was going on,” she said. 

“I'm thinking, ‘No, we don't do things like this, we don't kick people to death on the streets - that's not the thing to be done.’

“My thing was get the Garda here and get the ambulance here as quick as we could and get the knife away.” 

Ms Kearney also criticised those who rioted in the aftermath of the violence. 

“People were angry and people react differently when they're angry but to burn down your city, I don't think that's in any way constructive towards what happened that day,” she said. 

“Senseless to me, that's my opinion. 

“It didn't aid anything to anybody and people were angry but why not hold a candlelit vigil for the children?”

Bouchaker will be sentenced in October.

Main image: Gardaí in Parnell Square. Picture by: RollingNews.ie.