Teenager imprisoned in horsebox and threatened by ‘man he knew well’
The 18-year-old has told detectives he was brought to a farm in north Cork on the pretence of helping to move an animal for a man he knew well.
Just moments after arriving at the farm, the teenager was attacked by the middle-aged man, who then bundled him into the horsebox.
Within a few minutes a second man arrived at the scene wearing a balaclava and holding a handgun.
The teenager’s ordeal started at around 11am last Monday when he was picked up at his home in Charleville by the man and driven to a farm in the Dromina area.
After the two-hour ordeal the teenager was untied and released from the horsebox. At this stage the masked gunman suddenly disappeared, but the other man let him make a phone call to his home in Charleville.
Bizarrely, he then dropped the teenager back there in his car.
The teenager contacted gardaí at about 3.20pm and provided detectives in Charleville with a statement.
Although physically unharmed, he was said to be traumatised.
Superintendent Pat McCarthy, who is leading the investigation, said the gardaí sealed off the scene at the farm in Dromina where they were carrying out further forensic tests yesterday.
“We are taking these allegations very seriously. False imprisonment and threatening somebody with what appeared to be a firearm are very serious offences,” he said.
Gardaí were yesterday evening combing the area around the farm looking for the handgun.
Mr McCarthy said while gardaí had not yet established a motive, they were following a definite line of inquiry and expected to make an arrest fairly soon.
