The hero who fought to stop a serious stabbing attack in Belfast on Monday Night has spoken out as riots sparked by the incident spread across the North last night.
Matt McKiernan fended off the Belfast knife suspect with his son’s hurley. Speaking exclusively to the Irish Daily Mail, Mr McKiernan told how he jumped out of his car and ran to help the attacker’s victim.
With the suspect, a Sudanese man in his 30s, now arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, Mr McKiernan described how he and a friend came across the attack by chance as they took a shortcut to a petrol station on Monday night.
He told Extra.ie: ‘I turned into Kinnaird Avenue and I could see another car stopped in the middle of the road. The woman driving began reversing at speed as though she was trying to get away from something.
‘I drove round her and we could see what looked to be two men fighting in the street, with one on top of the other.’
Mr McKiernan, from west Belfast, continued: ‘Instinct took over and I ran over and I smashed this guy over the head about three times, as hard as I could.’
The removal company boss said his friend also ‘tried to subdue the attacker’.
The PSNI as well as local politicians condemned the violence which took place across Belfast and much of the North last night, which saw police cars and buses set alight.
The victim of the knife attack sustained significant injuries to his eyes while his alleged attacker had leave to remain in the UK, having travelled to Northern Ireland from Dublin, police said.
The suspect, a Sudanese man in his 30s, has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following the assault on Monday night.
As well as the eye injuries, the victim also sustained slash wounds to his face and back, police said.
A Glider bus was set ablaze on the Newtownards Road in east Belfast after masked men set commercial bins on fire and pushed them into the road.
Dark black smoke was visible across much of the city from the incident and disorder spread across the area and other parts of the North, with one police officer telling this paper that ‘North Belfast, West Belfast and East Belfast aren’t safe’.
The PSNI called for calm and said that officers were on the ground responding to incidents as they arose. Public transport operator Translink said it had suspended all services in and out of Belfast and added: ‘We utterly condemn this attack on our service.’
The road was blocked on Belfast’s Crumlin Road, less than two kilometres from the scene of the incident, by masked youths who set fire to bins, while in Portadown, a police car was set ablaze on one of the town’s main streets.
Petrol bombs were thrown at PSNI armoured jeeps in Cloughfern, just under 15 kilometres north of Belfast city centre. A fire was set at a property on Lendrick Street in east Belfast by rioters, as well as two homes in the Tigers Bay area and various parts of the northside.
PSNI Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said there was no indication the attack was terror related and pleaded for calm. The North’s Justice Minister Naomi Long says those who are carrying out violent acts are ‘weaponising genuine hurt, concern and anger’ that people are feeling.
‘There is no place for masked thugs to take to the streets and threaten, intimidate, disrupt and cause wanton damage. Disorder on the streets, such as we are seeing tonight, is diverting valuable police resources away from those who genuinely need them,’ she said.
‘These are not the actions of people who genuinely care about their communities,’ she said. ‘While I recognise and understand the concerns following on from the attack in north Belfast, hate cannot be allowed to win.’
Michelle O’Neill insisted the North was not operating an ‘open borders’ immigration system.
‘I don’t know any country that has open borders,’ the First Minister said. ‘I believe in an immigration system that is fair and managed and enforceable and compassionate and human rights compliant, but that is not the debate for today.
‘The debate today is about our society, about our inclusive society, our welcoming society. Our conversation today is about our thoughts are very much with that gentleman who finds himself as a victim of that violent and horrific attack last night. Our thoughts today are about creating calm in our society.’
One local man who didn’t wish to be named stated: ‘The poor guy that was attacked was a vulnerable individual, he was hard of hearing. He wouldn’t have heard that someone was coming at him.
‘This area has had some issues in the past. Anti-social behaviour, drug dealing. Those flats are single men, drug users, homeless, lots and lots of problems. I believe quite a few Irish but many people from the city too.’
It’s believed that the victim is originally from Scotland, aged in his 40s, and had lived in the predominantly unionist area of Rathcoole, north of Belfast, before moving to the area, which is predominantly nationalist.
Several locals have stated that they are under the belief that the attacker, had arrived from Dublin and been given leave to remain before travelling to the North and taking up residence at the flats just days ago.
It’s claimed by a neighbour that he shared an apartment with another single African man, who helped raise the alarm to nearby flats when the attack began.
One local man walking his partner and two young daughters from a house near the crime scene stated that his family felt unsafe.
He said: ‘These two are terrified, and they won’t sleep here tonight. I’m bringing them now to their nanny’s because it’s just unbelievable what happened here.’
The Sudanese suspect, 30, is due to appear in court this morning.
