Boy ran for help covered in father’s blood after assault

A YOUNG boy was found covered in his father’s blood and screaming for help on a Limerick street, it emerged yesterday as gardaí revealed they were investigating a brutal assault in the city.

Gardaí standing near the entrance to Henry Street Garda Headquarters in the city at about 9am on Sunday came to the boy’s assistance as he ran towards the front door of the station.

On rushing to a house about 200 yards away, gardaí found a man who was bleeding profusely.

The boy, aged 10, and his three younger sisters had witnessed a brutal assault on their father which left the house splattered in blood.

The man was severely beaten and a broken glass may have been used in the assault.

The injured man was taken by ambulance to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital.

Two other adults who were in the house at the time of the assault were arrested.

A garda spokesman said: “The little boy was not injured but was covered in his father’s blood. The boy had come running from the house to the Garda station, and was met by gardaí as he ran towards the front door of the station.

“Gardaí rushed to the scene and called an ambulance and medical help. Witnessing that kind of violence must affect children, when you consider the vulnerability of children and their tender years. It is sad.”

Gardaí also alerted the HSE and the children are being cared for by relatives.

Meanwhile, gardaí are investigating an attack in which a nail bomb exploded after it was flung into a house at Hyde Road, Ballinacurra Weston, at about 9pm on Sunday.

A woman in her 40s and her teenage daughter who were in the house escaped injury.