Gardaí said the victim was held up by the assailant after alighting from a bus in the early hours of last Monday morning.

PROVIDING round-the-clock armed protection to witnesses in gang trials is putting a serious strain on Garda resources, Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy said yesterday as he revealed police were targeting 15 major gangs countrywide.

A Dublin teenager, who denied attacking and injuring man during a fight in which he allegedly used a bottle as a weapon, has escaped trial because the complainant had “cold feet” and would not come to court.