Attack not racially motivated, say victim’s family

The family of a 75-year-old Indian-born man, brutally beaten as he waited for a bus in a Cork suburb, do not believe the incident was racially motivated.

However, a witness to the weekend attack has claimed the perpetrator called the victim a refugee.

The victim, a retired mechanical engineer who is an Irish citizen, had been standing at a bus stop when a man in his 20s came up behind him and repeatedly punched him in the face.

A son, who asked not to be identified, said: “My dad’s jaw was cracked and he has two or three fractures of his cheekbone, severe bruising and swelling to his nose and mouth. His speech has also been affected and he can only drink soup.

“My father tried to defend himself with his walking stick but the guy took it off him and repeatedly punched him in the face until two women came to his aid.”

He said one witness told his mother that when the attacker started punching his father he referred to him as “only a refugee”.

“I think that whoever was there at the time was going to be assaulted,” said the son. “My father was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The attacker couldn’t have known he was Indian-born when he approached him from behind and started hitting him.

“Fortunately, he didn’t manage to knock my father to the ground. He’s had two hip replacements and wouldn’t have been able to get up.”

On behalf of his father and his Cork-born mother, the son appealed for the public’s help in tracing the attacker to prevent similar attacks on the elderly.

“This was a defenceless man and [the attacker] obviously knew he was old because he would have seen his walking stick.”

The unprovoked attack took place as the man was waiting for a bus at Sycamore Rd, Togher.

Gardaí believe the attacker struck between 1.30pm and 1.45pm on Friday.

The man was taken to Cork University Hospital, where he is still undergoing treatment.

Gardaí spoke to him briefly but are expected to interview him at length when doctors approve.

“We believe the attacker walked down Sycamore Rd and, after the attack, left in the direction of Hazel Rd,” the son said.

Gardaí say the attacker wore a hoodie, and appealed for anyone with information to contact Togher Garda Station at 021 4947 120.