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Belfast another appalling attack, we need to ask what is driving this.

(358 Posts)
Sago Tue 09-Jun-26 10:59:41

An atrocious attack last evening on the streets of Belfast.

Thank God for the local resident with a hurl who with help succeeded in beating the attacker away.

What is behind these attacks, what is driving men who have risked their lives to get to our shores to then behave in this way?

Is it culture, racism, MH or drugs?

I wish to understand what is happening.

Casdon Tue 09-Jun-26 15:06:32

Sago

Yes I read this but this is not a story of an immigrant killing or attempting to kill.

I want to know why.

I’m not sure what you mean Sago. Do you mean why do Sudanese people kill others, or why do immigrants kill others, as opposed to why do British people kill others?

Maremia Tue 09-Jun-26 15:01:53

Does it frequently turn out to be mental health issues rather than 'culturally' accepted behaviours?

GrannyGravy13 Tue 09-Jun-26 14:55:09

ixion

I read that the attacker was Sudanese.
(BBC)

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cr47x99k5n6t

Yes other media outlets are now correcting their reporting of the assailant was Somalian to that he is Sudanese.

EVEOHA2602 Tue 09-Jun-26 14:53:26

Matters not a jot re race or creed - what matters is the cause of such unwanted and unwarranted behaviours - if qat is culturally ‘acceptable’ and available that will be a significant contributory factor/cause

ixion Tue 09-Jun-26 14:48:33

I read that the attacker was Sudanese.
(BBC)

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cr47x99k5n6t

EVEOHA2602 Tue 09-Jun-26 14:46:43

According to our neighbour - an NHS psychiatrist - Qat induced psychosis is a contributory factor - 👍☘️

Sago Tue 09-Jun-26 14:34:52

Yes I read this but this is not a story of an immigrant killing or attempting to kill.

I want to know why.

Casdon Tue 09-Jun-26 14:11:32

It’s in the news every day if you look. This one was also on BBC News this morning. Vile.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1d2v0wz6wpo

Maremia Tue 09-Jun-26 14:05:07

And the attacker so young.

GrannyGravy13 Tue 09-Jun-26 14:02:38

Maremia

Serious knife attack in Manchester. Attacker was a 14 year old girl.
Worthy of a Thread?

Maybe you should start one?

I have been very busy today, and only just seen this. Two students and a member of staff have been stabbed, not life threatening.

Yet another stabbing at a school, very distressing for pupils, staff and parents.

Maremia Tue 09-Jun-26 13:56:17

Serious knife attack in Manchester. Attacker was a 14 year old girl.
Worthy of a Thread?

MaizieD Tue 09-Jun-26 13:53:28

It is that the reporting of incidents involving non British people as perpetrators are automatically headline news. If you type knife stabbing and the name of your nearest city, a frightening amount of incidents will appear, most of which involve teenagers, and don’t receive a great deal of publicity unless somebody is actually killed.

Which is why I'm steering clear of this thread.

Casdon Tue 09-Jun-26 13:45:35

Sago

I want to understand why.

Is it because they are disillusioned on arrival, were they sold a dream?
Is it a gang mentality, could they be mentally ill, are they escaping their own countries to avoid prison sentences?

Is there something we could be doing to prevent this behaviour?

It is that the reporting of incidents involving non British people as perpetrators are automatically headline news. If you type knife stabbing and the name of your nearest city, a frightening amount of incidents will appear, most of which involve teenagers, and don’t receive a great deal of publicity unless somebody is actually killed.
Here is the other side of the coin.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yej4m190po#:~:text=The%20pair%20attacked%20Kamran%20Aman,floor%20of%20a%20neighbour's%20house.

twaddle Tue 09-Jun-26 13:38:18

Sago

I want to understand why.

Is it because they are disillusioned on arrival, were they sold a dream?
Is it a gang mentality, could they be mentally ill, are they escaping their own countries to avoid prison sentences?

Is there something we could be doing to prevent this behaviour?

Possibly the same reason Alina Burns attempted to behead a Kurdish barber with an axe.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crmpejxlm7do

OldFrill Tue 09-Jun-26 13:32:31

Granatlast007

If you look at the N Irish news there is a tad more detail, it appears that the attacker was Somali.

Somalia is a dangerous country that all Western nations warn their citizens not to visit. I remember hearing a Women's Hour programme once about trauma and how there is no mental health care for immigrants who may have suffered terrible things.

I only saw one mention of the background of the Stockport killer, his parents were from Rwanda which was the site of the terrible massacres of Tutsi people by Hutus in 1994 and I thought of what such a family/young boy must have seen.

Irish history itself is a story of colonial domination and the trouble it brings. There are never easy answers to these events and some answers are those that others would prefer not to consider. It's probably easier to do that if you've lived a life of relative comfort and safety.

The Stockport killer was born in Cardiff.

grumppa Tue 09-Jun-26 13:27:45

I thought England's first colony was Wales!

Granatlast007 Tue 09-Jun-26 13:00:20

Yes, but it you just say it's an individual action, that's ok on one level, of course it's an individual but in an increasingly unequal country and world, violence and terrorism aren't going away.

Considering whatever community you like to focus on, people feel afraid, aren't getting their needs met and some of those people won't just accept or might not be able to and one day they break. There's none so blind as those who can't, or don't want, to see.

It's a shame that the fact that it's Northern Ireland which I saw labelled as England's first colony only the other day, will encourage people to ignore the poverty and misery in which so many live.

Basgetti Tue 09-Jun-26 12:53:04

Sago

I want to understand why.

Is it because they are disillusioned on arrival, were they sold a dream?
Is it a gang mentality, could they be mentally ill, are they escaping their own countries to avoid prison sentences?

Is there something we could be doing to prevent this behaviour?

Surely it doesn’t take a vivid imagination to understand that people fleeing warn torn countries may have been subjected to horrific things, often from childhood?

GrannyGravy13 Tue 09-Jun-26 12:52:18

JaxJacky 👍

Jaxjacky Tue 09-Jun-26 12:43:31

The best comment I have read:
Northern Ireland knows well the danger of blaming an entire community for the deeds of an individual or small faction. In the hours, days and weeks ahead, we would ask people to bear that in mind."

Sago Tue 09-Jun-26 12:43:05

I want to understand why.

Is it because they are disillusioned on arrival, were they sold a dream?
Is it a gang mentality, could they be mentally ill, are they escaping their own countries to avoid prison sentences?

Is there something we could be doing to prevent this behaviour?

Primrose53 Tue 09-Jun-26 12:42:40

It was an attempted beheading and the attacker was from Somalia.

GrannyGravy13 Tue 09-Jun-26 12:42:02

Have just googled this, all msm are calling the attacker a Somalian

Unfortunately the video footage came up, despite immediately turning it off that image will remain with me

Granatlast007 Tue 09-Jun-26 12:39:54

Silvershadow

It is very clear on the video that the attacker isn’t Irish. All newspapers are reporting the attacker as a Somali.

I wasn't suggesting that the attacker was Irish, though there are brown Irish people as others suggest, I was making a broader point about oppressed peoples and the difficult lives they and their parents/ancestors may have had. The existence of trauma handed down the generations and bringing poor mental health is now pretty accepted.
I'm not pro immigration but I don't think life is as easy as some of them have been led to believe and there is trouble in Ireland and the north about immigrant hostels. I can easily believe that this could lead to violence.

DamaskRose Tue 09-Jun-26 12:33:44

Basgetti

This man is reportedly Somali but there are brown Irish people you know, Silvershadow.

Just what I was going to say Basgetti.