Three in custody after Garda manhunt

TWO men and a 15-year-old youth were last night being held in Garda custody after a manhunt across north Cork involving up to 30 gardaí.

The men had been on the run after the suspected burglary of two chainsaws and motor accessories from the Southside car wash at Mallow Bridge in the early hours of yesterday morning.

They were also alleged to have stolen a 4x4 from that premises.

Gardaí began their hunt for the men at 7am yesterday morning after they received calls from members of the public reporting suspicious activity in the area near Freemount.

It is alleged the three had initially used the stolen 4x4 but, when it ran out of fuel, they took to the fields and made their way on foot towards Liscarroll.

Superintendent Pat McCarthy said a team of between 25-30 officers “hemmed” the men into a 8km-9km area. He said initially the suspects stuck together but then split up.

In an attempt to track them down gardaí used the local radio stations to ask landowners in that area to be vigilant and report any sightings of the men.

Superintendent McCarthy said that was instrumental to the success of the Garda operation. His team received frequent calls from locals reporting the location of the three suspects and that enabled them to closely monitor their movements.

Officers caught the first of the men at 11.30am and had the other two in custody by 2pm.

The youth and two other men, one aged 25 and the other 35 years, were last night being detained under Section Four of the Criminal Justice Act.

Two were being held at Mallow Garda Station, the other in Fermoy.