Spanish man recovering after assault with golf club by gang

Investigations are ongoing after a Spanish man was attacked with a golf club in Cork city when he refused to hand over cigarettes or his mobile phone to a gang of youths.

Jordi Roca, aged 39, from Valencia, was in a critical but stable condition in Cork University Hospital (CUH) last night after suffering severe head injuries in the unprovoked attack on Monday.

He was on his way home with a male and female friend at around 10pm when they were confronted by a gang of up to 10 youths who had been drinking near the White Street car park.

The gang asked the friends for cigarettes first before demanding that they hand over their mobile phones, before the attack took place.

A golf club was produced and Mr Roca, who works at Sexton’s Newsagents and deli on the Old Blackrock Road, suffered severe head injuries and was rushed by ambulance to CUH with a suspected fractured skull.

His employer, Tom O’Connor, visited him in hospital yesterday.

“He was sitting up and seemed OK,” Mr O’Connor said. “He said there was about 10 in the gang and they just asked for cigarettes and their mobile phones.

“Everybody is very shocked. It’s a very nasty thing to happen. But I just don’t understand how it’s left to happen. It’s not the first attack in this area.”

Two men, who were arrested for alleged public order offences in the hours afterwards, were released without charge yesterday but gardaí say investigations are continuing.

A car has been seized and a golf club which is believed to have been used in the attack has been recovered.

Supt Barry McPolin, who is leading the investigation, described the attack as a particularly serious assault and said that detectives are following a definite line of enquiry.

“The victim suffered a very, very serious head injury. We have taken several statements but I would appeal to any witnesses who have information about this assault to contact us,” he said.

One White Street resident, who asked not to be named, saw some of the incident.

“I heard screaming and shouting outside and went to my window and saw a man take a golf club from the boot of a car,” she said.

“I went and called the gardaí and later saw people standing around a person lying on the ground. It’s a dreadful incident. I couldn’t sleep all night.

“You see people drinking in that car park all the time.

“The gardaí come to deal with them but their hands are tied and there is only so much they can do.”

Independent councillor Mick Finn said teenage gangs gather regularly in the South Parish area for drinking sessions.

“They can be quite intimidating,” he said.

“The gardaí have been tackling it on an ad-hoc basis but I am calling on them now to adopt a zero-tolerance [policy] to this, and to increase the garda presence in the area.

“I am worried that the South Parish could become a no-go area.”

Anyone who was in or around the White Street area between 9pm and 10pm on Monday night, and who may have seen the incident, should contact Anglesea Street Garda Station on 021-4522000, or the Garda Confidential Telephone Line 1800 666 111.