Doctors ‘went against protocols’ to save girl stabbed in Parnell Square attack, trial told

Consultant describes extraordinary medical response after critically injured child was brought from Parnell Square attack scene

Flowers and tributes left at the scene of the Parnell Square attack in Dublin. File picture: Stephen Collins/Collins Photos

A consultant has told the Central Criminal Court that doctors “went against protocols and just ran with things” as they tried to save the life of a five-year-old girl who had no pulse after being stabbed in the heart on a Dublin city centre street.

Dr Michael Boyle, head of the neonatal department at the Rotunda Hospital, said he believed the child was dead when he saw her grey-coloured skin and was unable to detect a pulse despite paramedics' efforts to revive her using CPR.