Man charged with attempting to murder three children in Dublin in 2023 declared fit to stand trial

As we've heard, the man accused of assaulting a care worker and attempting to murder three

children on Dublin's Parnell Square is fit to stand trial. That ruling was made this morning

by the Central Criminal Court. 52-year-old Riyadh Bhuchakar is charged with the attempted

murder of two boys and one girl and is also accused of assault causing serious harm to a care worker

in November of 2023. We can get more now from our legal affairs correspondent Orla O'Donnell

Orla, can you outline for us the events that brought us to this ruling today?

Well, these proceedings arise from events at Parnell Square on the

afternoon of November the 23rd, 2023 and a number of people were hurt outside a child care

facility on Parnell Square. Riyadh Bhuchakar, as you say, is charged with the attempted murder of

two girls and one boy as well as assault causing serious harm to a care worker and he's also charged

with three counts of assault causing harm to two other young children and a passerby who tried

to intervene as well as one count of the production of a knife. Now, earlier this year, the court heard

expert evidence from two consultant forensic psychiatrists about Riyadh Bhuchakar's fitness to plead

to these offenses. Mr. Justice Tony Hunt said the psychiatrist for the defense and for the prosecution

both accepted he was suffering from a neurocognitive disorder and this arose from neurosurgery he had

in 2021 and also a subsequent traumatic brain injury in 2023 but the experts differed on the

effects of those deficits on his fitness to plead. The judge was saying that the defense

argued that Mr. Bhuchakar could not understand the nature of the charges, the roles of people in

the courtroom or the choices he had in his pleas and was unable to give coherent instructions to

his lawyers. However, the prosecution argued that the defense evidence was overstated and the

prosecution psychiatrist relied on interviews carried out by Gauri with Mr. Bhuchakar in the aftermath

of the events and the prosecution argued that with appropriate support, Mr. Bhuchakar was fit

to stand trial. Tell us then, Orla, about the ruling given this morning by Mr. Justice Tony Hunt.

Well, Mr. Justice Hunt said expert evidence didn't automatically determine the outcome of a case

and he noted that psychiatry was not an exact science. He said the decision was ultimately a

matter for him with help from the experts and he said in an attempt to resolve what he called the

conundrum of this conflict between the psychiatrists, he too had gone back and had viewed the footage

of Riyadh Bhuchakar's garlic interviews. Now, he said it was a finely balanced case. He said both

arguments had marriage but he found the evidence of the prosecution's expert which had been grounded

in his viewing of Mr. Bhuchakar's interviews with Gauri to be more persuasive and he found that

Mr. Bhuchakar was able to make a plea, that he was able to advance a possible defense, that he

understood the evidence, that he understood the gravity of the conduct alleged against him.

He said that Riyadh Bhuchakar undoubtedly had cognitive limitations and various accommodations would

be necessary during the trial. This would involve perhaps more frequent breaks and less sensory

overload in the court room, things like that but he said that did not equate to unfitness to

stand trial and he said the defense had not proved on the balance of probabilities that Mr. Bhuchakar

was not fit to plead. His view was that Mr. Bhuchakar was currently fit to stand trial and he said

the matter would be kept under review as the trial progressed. Now, at that stage, prosecuting

cancelled Carl Finnegan told the court that the director of public prosecutions was looking for

the earliest possible trial date. This primarily due to the ages of those involved, the victims in this

case and the court also heard that an interpreter and an Arabic-speaking intermediary would be

needed for the trial. Judge Hunt said there was some urgency attached to this and he set a date

of June the 8th for the trial to proceed and the case will be mentioned in court again in May.

Orla thinks indeed for that our legal affairs correspondent Orla O'Donnell.