Student critical after stabbing

A YOUNG French student, fighting for her life after being repeatedly stabbed in the neck and throat, is believed to have been followed into a Dublin city centre apartment block by her attacker.

The 22-year-old business student, who arrived in Ireland last September, suffered knife wounds to her neck and throat during what gardaí described as a “very vicious attack”.

Her attacker, a 25-year-old male, was waiting outside the apartment block for approximately half an hour before the young woman arrived home.

While gardaí have yet to established a definite motive for the stabbing, they are investigating whether she was deliberately targeted.

The student has obviously not yet been interviewed by detectives so they have yet to establish if she knew her attacker or if the motive was theft.

She was in intensive care in St James’s Hospital following emergency surgery. Her condition is described as critical.

The attack happened at the 142 unit Betram Court apartment complex off Cornmarket near Christchurch around 7.15pm on Tuesday evening.

A third-year student at the Dublin Business School in Aungier Street, the young woman came to Ireland from Marseilles at the start of the college year last September. Her parents travelled over to be with her last night.

Detectives investigating the vicious attack believe the man pushed his way into the complex after she opened the door. She was stabbed inside the block.

Gardaí at Kevin Street are seeking a 25-year-old male, 5’8 in height with fair to blond hair.

He was wearing a blue jacket with a distinctive logo and dark blue trousers. He was carrying a canvas shoulder bag.

The man fled on foot towards either Bridge Street or High Street.

Gardaí believe there are many witnesses who were in the area off Cornmarket at the time, a sunny May evening in a busy area of the city.

Superintendent Eddie Quirke, of Kevin Street, has appealed to the public for information.

“There would have been a lot of people coming home from work. This is a block with 142 apartments so there would have been a lot of movement.”