A man has been remanded in custody for four weeks after being charged with the attempted murder of Stephen Ogilvie in Belfast.
Hadi Alodid (30), a Sudanese national with an address at Duncairn Avenue in Belfast, was also charged with threats to kill an NHS radiographer and possession of a knife.
The accused appeared before Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday morning.
He refused legal representation and made no reply to charges that were put to him through an Arabic interpreter as he appeared in court following a knife attack in the Kinnaird Avenue area in north Belfast on Monday night.
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A PSNI detective told the court that Stephen Ogilvie has lost his left eye and has deep cuts to his head, face and back.
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. He also told medical staff “I will kill you”, the court heard.
The detective told the court that 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 and removed him from on top of the victim.
Alodid was refused bail after the detective told the court there was a fear it would lead to “significant public disorder” if he was released due to “strong public feeling” about the incident.
Police said they “strongly” opposed bail on the grounds that 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 and 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” and 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.
Alodid is next due to appear in court in four weeks’ time.
The judge warned that anyone who plans to take part in further disorder in Northern Ireland should “be prepared to go to prison” and said the courts “won’t tolerate” any attacks on emergency services.
Speaking at Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, Keown said that the court’s thoughts were with the victim, the members of the public who intervened and the emergency services who went to the victim’s 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 and to be prepared to fight and be arrested.
He said that anyone involved in attacks on the community and members of the community can “also expect to go to prison, and that message should be sent out loud and clear”.
