News from Ireland - news from around the 32 counties

A man who fell asleep at a bus stop on Mulgrave Street was repeatedly stabbed in the face with a kitchen knife in an “unprovoked and brutal attack”, Limerick Circuit Court has heard.

Damien O’Brien, 25, with an address at St Munchin’s Street, St Mary’s Park, was charged with assault causing harm on April 7 this year.

The defendant, who has 106 previous convictions, admitted committing the offence in a drink and drug fuelled attack, telling gardai “I want to do life” [in prison] and that he had “a bit of shit in my head” on the day in question.

State prosecutor John O’Sullivan, BL, said Mr O’Brien pulled the knife on the 48 year-old injured party and stabbed him up to seven times in the face.

The victim had fallen asleep in a corner of the bus shelter, after consuming a “copious amount of alcohol”. He woke up after 11pm and recalled seeing someone with a knife in his hand.

The victim shouted ‘Stop, stop’, Mr O’Sullivan told the court, and made his escape by running towards the Brother Russell home.

“It was a brutal attack, that took him by surprise,” he added.

Mr O’Brien told gardai he had drank a couple of cans as well as 40-50 “Up-Johns”, or relaxants, throughout the day.

“I black out when taking them,” he told gardai during a series of interviews. “I suppose it [the attack] was due to the tablets.”
(Source: Limerick Leader)

Longford

Crime in rural areas of the midlands has been on the rise in recent months. In the past week, several serious incidents have taken place across the region, the latest of which took place on Monday night last week (Oct 17).

Two men, disturbed during a burglary in Roscommon, were chased through Co Longford, before the pursuit ended in Mullingar with a successful arrest. During the chase a Garda helicopter assisted personnel on the ground in Legan to help apprehend the pair.

At the weekend Gardai arrested three men in relation to an attempted robbery at Ardagh Post Office on Friday last.

Two men entered the village post office at 4pm and demanded cash from the post mistress. One was carrying a bat and the other another implement. An alarm was activated shortly afterwards and the two men fled the scene empty handed.

The following day, Saturday October 15, Gardai carried out a number of searches in the area and arrested three men. All three were subsequently released without charge and a file is being prepared for the DPP.
 (Source: Longford Leader)

Louth

A court in Lithuania has sentenced Louth man Michael Campbell to 12 years in prison for trying to buy weapons for the Real IRA.

Campbell, whose brother Liam was a senior member of the Real IRA, was snared by a sting operation involving undercover agents from Britain’s MI5 and the Irish and Lithuanian security services.

He admitted trying to buy weapons in the Baltic state but insisted they were not for the Real IRA.

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Nster.com