Father of six stabbed to death in ‘serious and savage attack’

GARDAÍ were last night trying to track down a man suspected of being involved in a savage murder in Dublin’s south inner city.

The victim, Christy Cawley, aged 33, was married with six children.

He was severely beaten and fatally stabbed in Tyrone Place apartments in Inchicore on Sunday night.

Mr Cawley was the second person who died from knife injuries in Dublin over the weekend.

Earlier, father-of-one Anthony McGrath, aged 23, died from a stab wound following a row in the Clonsilla area of west Dublin.

Mr Cawley, who lived at Tyrone Place, was found by gardaí slumped at the bottom of a stairwell of a flats complex shortly after 8pm on Sunday.

Senior officers said he was the victim of a “serious and savage attack”.

Mr Cawley was beaten and was believed to have been stabbed at least once.

He was still alive when gardaí arrived and attempts were made to resuscitate him at the scene.

He was transferred the short distance to St James’s Hospital, but he died soon afterwards.

Gardaí said they were keeping an open mind as to the motive behind the attack.

A number of local witnesses said they saw a man running away from the scene.

Gardaí have appealed to anyone who was in the Tyrone Place area between 8pm and 9.30pm on Sunday to contact Kilmainham Garda Station at 01-6669700.

Gardaí were conducting local enquiries yesterday while forensic experts continued to examine the area.

Forensic experts were also examining the scene of the fatal stabbing of Mr McGrath at Whitestown Walk, Clonsilla, early on Sunday morning.

He received a single knife wound to his neck and gardaí are satisfied they have located the weapon.

Gardaí at Blanchardstown station arrested a 35-year-old man, who was known to the victim, afterwards. He was released pending the preparation of a file for the DPP.

Detectives at Blanchardstown are also investigating the discovery of a pipe bomb in a car parked in Ravenswood Drive in Clonsilla. The bomb was defused by army experts.

Gardaí said they were not aware of any reason as to why the occupants of the house were targeted.

Meanwhile, six Blanchardstown-based gardaí were recovering yesterday after a marked garda van they were travelling in was rammed in the Mulhuddart area on Friday night.