Garda stabbed by man at checkpoint

A GARDA was stabbed and a colleague had his wrist broken after they were attacked by a man who they tried to arrest on suspicion of drink driving over the weekend.

Gardaí were still searching for the man last night following the attack at a checkpoint in West Cork shortly after 2:15am yesterday.

Garda Dave Barry, a member of the traffic corps, was operating a checkpoint in Dunmanway when he became suspicious of the driver and attempted to arrest him.

The man lunged at Garda Barry’s chest with a knife. The garda tried to protect himself and received a deep wound to his hand.

Garda Martin Cronin came to his colleague’s assistance but was also attacked by the man and had a bone in his wrist broken.

The attacker fled the scene on foot but was chased by the two injured gardaí who lost him on the outskirts of the town.

“Both gardaí were subsequently taken to Cork University Hospital. Garda Barry received a number of stitches to a very deep wound in his hand, while Garda Cronin has a broken bone in his wrist. Both have since been discharged,” a senior garda spokesman said.

“It’s serious that somebody would react like this to a garda who is just simply doing his job.”

The attacker was well known to the gardaí.

“We are continuing to search for him as a matter of priority and we’ll find him as quickly as we can,” the spokesman said.