Unprovoked attack on couple leaves man ‘critical’

GARDAÍ are preparing a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to a violent and apparently unprovoked assault on a man and his girlfriend.

The man, aged in his 30s, received serious head injuries and is in intensive care at Beaumont Hospital in north Dublin, where his condition is critical.

The vicious assault occurred at an inner city flats complex near St Stephen’s Green last Thursday night week.

The couple were set upon on Mercer Street Upper at around 11.50pm, in an incident which gardaí said “appeared to be an unprovoked attack.”

There were local reports, unconfirmed by gardaí, that the row may have been related to a mobile phone.

Gardaí were alerted and when they arrived they found a man on the ground unconscious, with head injuries. A woman was found beside him with head injuries.

“An ambulance was called and the two were initially taken to St James’s Hospital,” said a garda spokesman. “He was later transferred to Beaumont. She was discharged from St James’s and gave a statement to the gardaí regarding the incident.”

He said a number of garda units were alerted and that two teenagers were arrested close to the scene.

The teenagers, aged 16 and 18, were taken to Harcourt Terrace Station, where they were detained under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.

The youths were later released without charge.

The spokesman said the scene at Mercer Street Upper had been examined and that the investigation was ongoing. He said a file was being prepared for the DPP.

It’s understood that a third person could have also been involved in the attack and that gardaí may be looking for this person.