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

0:00As 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

1:02to 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

2:04to 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

3:10overload 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.