Belfast stabbing suspect Hadi Alodid in court as victim Stephen Ogilvie loses eye

A 30-year-old man from Sudan has appeared in a Belfast court charged with attempted murder over a stabbing attack that left a victim seriously injured and triggered anti-immigrant violence in several parts of Northern Ireland.

Hadi Alodid, 30, was remanded in custody after an appearance by video at Belfast Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

He was accused of blinding Stephen Ogilvie in his left eye during the stabbing, prosecutors said, with the court told that Mr Ogilvie lost the eye during the attack.

Mr Alodid, who was also charged with threatening to kill a radiographer on the same day and with possessing a knife, appeared in court on the same day Mr Ogilvie's family pleaded with the public not to "be used to divide people".

He refused legal representation through an Arabic interpreter and did not enter a plea.

Police previously said he arrived in the UK in 2023 and was given refugee status.

The court appearance followed a night of violence across Belfast.

Family pleads for calm

Masked men set fire to several homes they believed to house immigrants, burned trash bins, torched a Belfast bus and pelted police with objects. 

Firefighters rescued several people from burning homes.

On Wednesday, local time, the family of the victim, Mr Ogilvie, told British media in a statement distributed by a local MP that the unrest was "not welcome".

"We want to make it absolutely clear that overnight unrest is not welcome, and peaceful protest is the only way forward," the family's statement read, according to the BBC.

"We have many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country, including in our healthcare system and hospitality sector and we depend on them to make our country work."

They added that they do not want Mr Ogilvie's stabbing to "be used to divide people or fuel hostility".

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on X that the violence was "shocking and completely unacceptable", adding that "people were targeted last night because of their background and I will not tolerate it".

Northern Irish political leaders and the police had urged people not to share the video, noting its "graphic nature would only serve to re-traumatise those involved".

But numerous social media accounts linked to so-called "patriots" shared the footage, urging people to "protest against mass immigration into their communities".

Britain's media regulator Ofcom warned online platforms of possible legal consequences if their services are used to incite violence and spread hatred linked to the recent civil unrest.

Ofcom said it had told the online providers in a letter on Wednesday that some of the unrest in Belfast appeared to have been fuelled online and included racially motivated violence, arson attacks on homes and vehicles and assaults on police.

It said it had reminded companies of their duties under the Online Safety Act to assess and mitigate illegal content.

Earlier, the chairwoman of Britain's ruling Labour party, Anna Turley, said online platforms were "playing a role in driving" the unrest and suggested X owner Elon Musk was one of the "bad faith actors" inflaming tensions.

Mr Musk had retweeted a post by anti-immigration activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon — also known as Tommy Robinson — adding: "Only by protesting REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will there be any change!!".

The disorder comes with tensions already high in the UK following skirmishes in southern England last week over the police handling of the murder of a white student by a British Sikh man.

Wires/ABC