Absolutely horrific.

The man who was viciously stabbed on a Belfast street by a man from Sudan has lost an eye. He’s fortunate he didn’t lose two – at least, that hasn’t happened yet:

The victim of the stabbing remains in serious condition and the court has heard he lost his left eye and has severe damage to his right eye in the attack as well as deep cuts to his head and face, and long lacerations on his back.

The attack was only stopped by some brave onlookers, including this man:

Among the heroes was Maitiu Mág Tighearnán, known as Matt, who stumbled upon the scene after returning home from a night out.

Grabbing a wooden hurley stick – used in the Irish sport of hurling – the young dad charged towards the knifeman.

Police later said the actions of courageous members of the public and responding officers had “undoubtedly” saved the victim’s life.

I originally thought, from the name, that Maitiu might be from the Pacific Islands or some other foreign place. But then I realized that no, the spelling of the name is a Gaelic thing. Here’s some information:

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Mr Mág Tighearnán said he had just returned from hurling practice with his son, when he noticed a car in the area reverse as “if to get away from something”.

He then exited his vehicle with his friend, named as Andre, when the pair noticed the attacker stabbing the man.

Mr Mág Tighearnán said “instinct took over” as he confronted the man.

“Andre was a few seconds behind and he came running in and tried to subdue the attacker with an ankle-hold so he could free the victim,” he added.

“I hit this guy again, hard, but it didn’t seem to phase him. He did stumble back, though and dropped the knife. I think another man who’d been watching came in and kicked the knife away.”

He also told the newspaper the victim appeared to “scream” but couldn’t due to stab wounds to his neck.

“I’m glad we intervened when we did. It was pure chance that we’d gone that route to the petrol station,” he continued.

“People have called us heroes but to be honest I’d like to think most people would’ve got stuck in and helped if they could. I just hope the victim pulls through and manages to recover as best he can.”

Heroes nearly always claim they’re nothing special. But they’re very special.

As for the perpetrator, he had nothing to say for himself when he appeared in court (via videolink):

Hadi Alodid has appeared before the city’s magistrates’ court on Wednesday morning.

The 30-year-old, with an address at Duncairn Avenue in Belfast, is charged with the attempted murder of Stephen Ogilvy, threatening to kill an NHS radiographer on the same day and with the possession of a knife.

He appeared in court via videolink. He refused legal representation and made no reply to charges which were put to him through an Arabic interpreter.

He was refused bail. The threats against the NHS worker have not been further explained as far as I can tell. My guess is that this happened first, and was the beginning of the perp’s frenzy that culminated in the stabbing. Why was Alodid interacting with an NHS radiographer? Was he being worked up for some problem?

I’ve read a few other things from sources I don’t think are necessarily trustworthy, although I don’t know. For example, some are saying that Ogilvie had helped Alodid move into a flat just a few days earlier. Others say that Ogilvie is developmentally disabled. Each of these things may or may not be true.

The event sparked riots, and of course the riots were condemned by people like Starmer. It really does seem that he’s more upset about the riots than about the attack, although he did condemn the attack. But Starmer will not sympathize with the rage of people who feel their country has been invaded by a large number of newcomers who are culturally incompatible and many of whom are not assimilating. Nor will he sympathize with the rage they feel towards people like Starmer himself who have encouraged the huge number of third-world newcomers.

Starmer said:

“The scenes in Belfast last night were shocking and completely unacceptable.

“There is no justification for the violence and disorder that we saw threatening our communities, nor for those who encouraged it, online or elsewhere.

“It is clear that people were targeted last night because of their background and I will not tolerate it. Those responsible will feel the full force of the law.”

Oh, that’ll calm them down.

NOTE: On the rescuer’s name, Google AI has this to say:

Yes, the name Maitiu (often spelled Maitiú) is distinctively Irish. It is the traditional Gaelic/Irish form of the English name Matthew, which traces its ultimate origins to Hebrew.The second part of the name, Mág, is a traditional Gaelic prefix (a variant of Mac) meaning “son of.” It is typically combined with another Gaelic word, such as Tighearnán (meaning “lord” or “master”), to form a full Irish surname (e.g., Mág Tighearnán, Anglicized as McKiernan)

So we might call him Matthew McKiernan.