German man hit on head with axe arrived in Dublin days before attack

A GERMAN man axed in the head as he walked along a Dublin street had just arrived in the city days before after travelling down from his home in the north west.

Ralf Hasch, a 28-year-old originally from Stuttgart, is recovering in hospital after Sunday’s late night attack. Gardaí believe he was hit a number of times on the head with the small sharp axe-like weapons.

Mr Hasch, although in a stable condition in hospital, is said to be extremely distressed following what appears to have been an unprovoked as he walked in the south inner city around 11.30pm.

Detectives from Kilmainham were able to conduct a brief interview with him yesterday and were told by Mr Hasch that he was attacked by a number of people.

When pressed for details, he was unable to continue the interview as he was still too upset at the incident.

Mr Hasch lives in Sligo and had travelled to Dublin to meet up with friends that live in the city. It is thought he was making his way home when he was attacked at he walked along Bow Bridge Place in the Kilmainham area.

Gardai said he received a number of quite ferocious blows that left him bleeding badly from the head. A passerby found him screaming for help, blood streaming from his wounds, and alerted the emergency services.

The man was taken to St James’s hospital, where he remains. A spokesman at the Germany Embassy confirmed that Mr Hasch has been living in Sligo for some time and had travelled to Dublin to stay with friends.

“He is quite shocked about this. It was very cruel,” the spokesman said. “He said more than one person attacked him but it was not very clearly articulated. He’s not yet fully clear about what happened.”