Man arrested in fatal stabbing case

A MAN held in connection with a fatal stabbing in Waterford was due to be charged or released from custody late last night.

He was arrested on Saturday, following the discovery of a man’s body at a house in Waterford city earlier in the afternoon.

The victim was found at a house in Lower Grange after emergency services were called to the scene.

The area was immediately sealed off, pending the arrival of Garda technical and forensic experts.

A Garda spokesman said the body was found at 4.20pm on Saturday. Gardaí did not formally name the victim yesterday, but he was named locally as Joe Cummins, 28, and from Clonmel, Co Tipperary.

His body was taken from the house by ambulance to Waterford Regional Hospital, where he was formally pronounced dead at 5pm.

Local sources said there was a late-night party in the house and a row of some sort broke out.

The terraced single-storey house is near the St John’s Park area of the city.

State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy was advised of the death and arrangements were made for her arrival yesterday, when she carried out a full postmortem examination.

It is understood the victim received a number of stab wounds.

The Garda Technical Bureau was dispatched from Garda Headquarters in Dublin yesterday morning. It conducted a detailed examination inside and outside the house and removed a number of items for forensic examination, which may take a number of weeks.

Late on Saturday night, officers arrested a man in relation to the death.

The man, aged in his early 30s, was brought to Waterford Garda Station in Ballybricken.

He was detained under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, which allows for a maximum period of 24 hours detention, excluding sleep breaks.

Local gardaí were tight-lipped yesterday and declined to comment on the incident.

A Garda spokesman would only say they were investigating the full circumstances surrounding the man’s death.