Family of Belfast stabbing victim call for calm after unrest

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The family of the man stabbed in Belfast have appealed for calm after rioting broke out in the city on Tuesday. Stephen Ogilvie lost an eye in the attack and is recovering in hospital. Protesters ignored their plea and continued to set fire to properties and throw petrol bombs at police. His relatives highlighted the “deeply valuable contribution” of migrants to the UK and said they did not want the attack “to be used to divide people or fuel hostility”. Violent unrest gripped Belfast after the suspect was identified as a Sudanese asylum seeker who was granted indefinite leave to remain in 2023. It was fanned on social media, where far-right figures urged people to take to the streets. This is becoming a familiar pattern: the same thing happened after the Southport stabbings in 2024 and the sentencing of Henry Nowak’s killer earlier this year.