Autopsy due on man found with head injury
Timothy Buckley, who was originally from Limerick, but who had lived in Cork for a number of years, was found lying on a footpath at Spring Lane, Blackpool, at about 2.30am last Wednesday.
Gardaí say they are keeping an “open mind” on how he acquired the injuries and are appealing for the public’s help in tracing his movements.
Mr Buckley was seen drinking in a pub in Blackpool on Tuesday night. He was in the company of a 42-year-old man and they are believed to have left together at closing time.
At about 2.30am, the 53-year-old was found lying on a footpath outside No 73 Spring Lane, which is owned by his partner. Although he had an apartment on College Rd, he regularly stayed at her home.
Earlier, he was seen near the old railway bridge on Spring Lane in the company of a man who gardaí believe is the same individual who had been drinking with him in a nearby pub.
Mr Buckley was taken to Mercy University Hospital (MUH) where he was placed on a life-support machine in the intensive care unit.
He died yesterday. It is understood his organs are being harvested for use in transplant operations.
Gardaí want to speak to anybody who may have seen Mr Buckley between 12.30am and 2.30am last Wednesday.
“We especially want to speak to a taxi driver who, we were informed, drove past Mr Buckley at around 2.30am. But we’re also anxious to speak to anybody who saw him near the bridge, or indeed even earlier in the Blackpool area,” said a Garda spokesman.
The spokesman said the outcome of the autopsy would determine the course of the Garda investigation.
Anybody with information is asked to contact Watercourse Road Garda Station at (021) 4558260 or Mayfield Garda Station at (021) 4558510.
Meanwhile, gardaí in Cobh say they are not treating the death of a woman there as suspicious.
She was reported missing in the town during the early hours of yesterday morning.
Her body was spotted shortly before 11am yesterday in the water near Pebble Beach, on the eastern side of the town, and recovered shortly after by naval divers.
The woman was named locally as Sarah Jane O’Connell from Glounthaune, Co Cork. She was married and in her late 20s and was a member of the naval service. She was a keen basketball player who had played for Glanmire and represented Ireland at U20 level.
