The family of Stephen Ogilvie, the victim of a stabbing in Belfast, has pleaded for calm, saying they do not want the “terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility.” Their appeal came as Sudanese national Hadi Alodid was charged with attempted murder, threats to kill an NHS radiographer and possession of a knife.
Violence spread across parts of Belfast overnight, with police attacked, properties damaged and communities left on edge after a video of the attack was shared online. Politicians and police have pointed to the role of social media, misinformation and outside agitators in driving the disorder. On a Channel 4 podcast, reporter Jackie Long explored what is happening in Northern Ireland, joined by crime correspondent Allison Morris, former Metropolitan Police officer Victor Olisa, and researcher Robert Topinka, who examined how far-right voices are helping fuel tensions online.
“Stephen Ogilvie's family urge calm after Belfast stabbing; Hadi Alodid charged as violence spreads and Badenoch blames lack of 'common sense'.”
Separately, the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak and the “shockingly inadequate police response” have sparked civil unrest across the country, according to a New Statesman analysis. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch addressed the crisis in a speech, citing “common sense” seven times. “Common sense has gone out of the window,” she said, calling for changes to police training, including how assumptions are made from 999 calls and how suspects are treated in high-stress situations. The article criticised the speech as “lazy polemicism,” noting that Badenoch was following a tradition of “common sense” politics championed by predecessors such as the hard-right Common Sense Group, spearheaded by Tory grandee John Hayes, and Esther McVey, who served as minister for common sense under Rishi Sunak. Causes McVey pushed included pushing back on “gender ideology,” reversing net zero, cancelling HS2, and the Rwanda deportation plan.
As the violence in Belfast continues and the fallout from the Nowak case deepens, the family of Stephen Ogilvie have made clear they do not want their tragedy exploited by political actors with their own agendas.