Sudanese Man Charged With Attempted Murder After Knife Attack in Belfast

A 30-year-old Sudanese man was charged with attempted murder after a knife attack in Belfast on Monday. The suspect, who was granted asylum in the UK in 2023 after fleeing Sudan, travelled from Sudan to Paris, then to Dublin, before taking a bus to Belfast in February 2023.

Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said there was no trace of the suspect on any of the national security databases and he was not known to police.

Three residents rushed to help the victim, and one was photographed wielding a stick at the suspect. Crowds burned vehicles and blocked roads in and around Belfast following the attack. Protesters set a bus ablaze in Belfast city centre.

Police and politicians issued pleas for calm after the violence. Northern Ireland's police chief said now is not a time for protest. The attack raises new questions over what the Daily Mail describes as a gaping backdoor to the UK.

The suspect's arrival in the UK is likely to prompt criticism of European countries, particularly France, over policing of their borders. A new law banning harassment motivated by a person's sex came into force on 1 April. David Stroud grabbed a woman's hair and asked if he could kiss her on an evening train from Hastings to London.

Stroud was arrested two days after the law came into force. His case is the first-of-its-kind sex-based harassment prosecution. An American helicopter was hit by an Iranian drone near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday.

President Donald Trump vowed to respond to the downing. Omar Artan, a referee from Somalia, was barred from entering the US after an 11-hour interrogation at Miami airport. Artan said he had a visa and was not given a reason for being denied entry.