Gardaí question youth after hammer attack

GARDAÍ have questioned a 14-year-old boy following a vicious hammer attack on an older youth who was found lying unconscious on waste ground.

The victim, a 15-year-old, was hit a number of times in the head by the younger youth, who is believed to have called gardaí a short time later.

Gardaí from Gurranabraher in Cork were alerted to the attack shortly after 9pm last Monday.

They carried out a search of waste land near Nash’s Boreen in Fairhill where they discovered the injured boy.

Fire brigade personnel who arrived at the scene had to cut fences and open railings to allow the ambulance access to the waste ground.

“He was very lucky to have been found. It appears he was hit on the head with the hammer a number of times. If he had stayed there overnight the situation may have been even more serious,” a garda source said yesterday.

A Southern Health Board spokesman said the youth was in a stable condition in Cork University Hospital.

The alleged attacker later went voluntarily to Gurranabraher Garda Station where he was questioned. The motive for the attack is still not understood.

Superintendent Mick O’Loughlin confirmed that while no arrests had been made they had talked to the 14 year old boy. “We are not looking for anybody else,” Supt O’Loughlin said.

Anybody who may have seen the two youths near Nash’s Boreen between 8pm and 9pm last Monday is asked to contact Gurranabraher Garda Station at [phone].