Pictured: Victim seriously injured in ‘asylum seeker knife attack’ in Belfast as Sudanese man charged with attempted murder

The man who was pinned down on a Belfast street by an asylum seeker who brutally attacked him with a knife has been named Stephen Ogilvie by local residents.

The alleged attacker, a 30-year-old Sudanese man, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder on Monday night and charged on Tuesday evening after Mr Ogilvie, who is in his 40s, suffered ‘serious injuries’ to his face, neck and back during the stabbing.

Details of the horrific attack, which took place at around 10.30pm on Kinnaird Avenue in north Belfast, have been revealed after graphic images of the attack were shared online.

The footage shows a man standing over a bloody victim, holding a knife to his throat and raising his fist in the air. Amid screams from onlookers, he began making sawing motions that witnesses said: ‘He’s trying to cut off his head.’ Police said a kitchen knife was found at the scene.

It is understood Mr Ogilvie is originally from Scotland and lived in the same block of flats as the Sudanese-born attacker.

One woman told the Daily Mail: ‘He seems like a vulnerable person. She lives in the same flat as the man who attacked her. There is a lot of information floating around about what happened. ‘No one knows for sure why Stephen was attacked.’

A neighbor of the victim added that he was ‘deaf in one ear’ and that ‘his window was broken by a drug addict who bricked up his house in the early hours of the morning last year’.

According to the anonymous neighbour, ‘Stephen had a few problems. He lived alone, but there were always people around him to stay with. He was due to be transferred to another housing association flat on June 15.

The alleged attacker, a 30-year-old Sudanese man, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder on Monday night and charged on Tuesday evening after Mr Ogilvie, who is in his 40s, suffered ‘serious injuries’ to his face, neck and back during the stabbing.

‘Last night I looked outside and saw what I thought were two men fighting,’ he added.

‘It was terrible but it happened very quickly and then the man came to help with a stick.

‘Initially I didn’t know it was Stephen who was attacked. I only learned this morning that the police broke into his apartment.

‘He was attacked right outside his flat. From what I hear, he’s alive… almost.

‘The Sudanese man accused of attacking him lived in another block. ‘He had just moved in.’

A man who lives near the flats said: ‘I saw all the police and ambulances outside the flats.

‘Paramedics were talking to Stephen as they treated him. I heard him call her name as she was being loaded into the ambulance.

‘I’ve seen him around. He is originally from Scotland and has been living in flats for several years. He is a vulnerable person and some of his neighbors are keeping an eye on him.

‘Apparently the Sudanese man the police arrested also lived in the same block. He hadn’t lived there long, maybe a week or so. He had just moved there. ‘This is all social housing.’

On Tuesday, Jon Boutcher, chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), said the alleged attacker was believed to have traveled from Sudan to Paris and then to Dublin before boarding a bus to Belfast in February 2023.

He later sought asylum in the city and was granted permission to remain in the UK until September of the same year.

DUP leader and East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson told the Commons today that the suspect was in the UK on a five-year visa.

The Home Office confirmed the suspect was granted refugee status after arriving in the UK and given permission to remain until 2028.

Following the attack, the PSNI said the man would appear in court in Belfast on Wednesday.

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said she did not know the answer to the ‘legitimate question’ of how she got here.

Lendrick Street in east Belfast burst into flames, engulfing several cars and at least one house

Another view of Lendrick Street in Belfast, with one of the flaming cars turned sideways

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Last night was brutal [attack] The situation in Belfast is appalling.

‘The government must ensure that full details of the suspect’s nationality and immigration status are disclosed.

‘Full transparency is needed. ‘If this man turns out to be an illegal immigrant it will provide further evidence that the Government’s lack of border control is endangering the public.’

During the attack on Monday night, the footage showed a man with a stick in his hand hitting the suspect and others helping to subdue the man, and the surrounding people intervened.

Mr Ogilvie was said to be in a ‘critical’ condition with serious injuries to his face, neck and back.

Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson, of the PSNI, told reporters the victim suffered serious eye injuries and serious slash wounds to his back and face after being attacked with a kitchen knife.

‘My understanding is that this person came to Northern Ireland from Dublin, moved up and was then given permission to stay,’ he said.

“I share the public reaction to the brutal nature of this attack, which has caused concern not only in Northern Ireland but also much further afield, and I understand that questions will arise about the nature of the attack,” he added.

There is nothing to suggest at this stage that the attack is terrorism-related, he said, and he went on to urge members of the public to be ‘very mindful of what they share online’ after graphic footage of the attack was posted.

Following the attack, Belfast was engulfed in flames as angry protesters, defying calls for calm from government ministers, set fire to houses and buses.

There were ugly scenes on the streets of Northern Ireland’s capital, with masked men clashing with police and a group kicking down doors to ‘get strangers out’.

While vehicles and piles of rubble were reduced to ashes, fire crews intervened in fires throughout the city.

Hundreds of masked men took to the streets, defying government ministers

A young man smiles at the camera in front of a burning barricade in Duncairn Gardens

Fires were started in Belfast and continued to burn as night fell, with the city’s fire crews responding to many incidents and the police force blocking off the streets.

Locals were evacuated from Lendrick Street in east Belfast, with images from the scene showing flames leaping from at least one property.

Dramatic scenes unfolded shortly after crowds first began gathering as protesters set fire to a Glider bus on Newtownards Road.

The crowd appeared to have pushed a burning bin towards the vehicle, and photos show the bin was completely burned.

About 100 masked men advanced down the street in the Lower Newtownards Road area of ​​east Belfast, kicking down doors and breaking windows and saying they were “taking out strangers”, the BBC reported.

In some parts of the city, police vehicles were attacked by protesters who threw bricks and other projectiles.

Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly appealed for calm, writing on social media: ‘I know everyone is horrified by what has happened. I know many people are angry and there are those who want to register a protest.

‘This is a call to act in a completely peaceful manner. Violence advances no cause; it harms him. Destroying things in your own community doesn’t help anyone.

‘It is completely wrong to take out your frustration with one person’s bad actions on those who had no part in it.’