Man loses sight in eye after vicious gang attack

A MAN in his 50s was beaten and kicked in the face, losing the sight of one eye, in what gardaí describe as a vicious and totally unprovoked attack.

The assault, recent unrelated incidents of vandalism and a rise in drug dealing has shocked the community of a normally quiet Cork town who want a greater garda presence.

Gardaí yesterday confirmed they had arrested a man in his late 20s last weekend in connection with the brutal attack in Carrigtwohill, which left the victim with “99% loss of sight in one eye”.

The alleged attacker, who is from the Carrigtwohill area, was arrested near Cappoquin, Co Waterford, on Saturday and a file is being prepared for the DPP.

Meanwhile, gardaí are also investigating a spate of vandalism in the town during the early hours of Sunday.

St Mary’s Church, which was built in 1870, and nearby St Aloysius secondary schools had a number of windows broken by a gang who are not believed to be from the town.

Canon Denis Reidy said nine sections of stained and lead-coloured glass were smashed at the historic church, which is a protected building.

“All the windows on ground level at the northern side of the church were severely damaged. It is a protected building and I’m sure it will cost a considerable amount to repair. It is very sad because we carried out some work on the windows as part of our millenium project.”

Canon Reidy said he got a phone call about the damage from a security company at about 2.15am.

Carrigtwohill Community Council chairman Anthony Barry said they had made representations to the garda authorities in the past for increased manpower, but hadn’t received any.

“In the light of what has happened we (the community council) are having a meeting. We’ll be pushing for longer opening hours for the local station and more garda manpower to be based locally,” Mr Barry said.

The population of the Carrigtwohill garda district is in excess of 6,000, but only one sergeant and two gardaí are based there.

The community council is also concerned that what a few years ago was a village is now one of Cork’s fastest growing satellite towns.

As hundreds of homes are under construction and many are at planning stage it is projected Carrigtwohill will have a population of 13,000 in the next five years.

Meanwhile, gardaí in nearby Cobh described as “absolutely reckless” an incident in that town on Sunday when two young men decided to carry out target practice with an air rifle.

A garda spokesman said that they shot at a telegraph pole from a bedroom window, “scaring the life out of one woman passerby”.

The air rifle was seized by gardaí who have spoken to an 18-year-old and a juvenile.