Man and woman injured in arson attack as petrol squirted through letterbox

A man and a woman in their 30s received burns to their arms and faces when petrol was squirted through a letterbox and ignited.

Gardaí believe a man who may harbour a grudge against the pair filled a washing-up liquid bottle with petrol and squirted it through the letterbox of a house in the Mallow area of Co Cork.

The arson attack happened at around 12.25am on Sunday.

The fire took hold at the front door of the house and some carpet inside the hallway was damaged.

When the couple opened the front door in a bid to extinguish the flames, they encountered the man, who was still standing outside.

“A scuffle then occurred in the hallway, during which the occupants of the house were assaulted by the man,” a garda source said.

“Both of the occupants were rushed by ambulance to Cork University Hospital for treatment for burns to their arms and faces. The woman also has a suspected broken hand.”

No arrests have yet been made but gardaí are continuing their investigation. It is believed they would like to talk to a man in his late 40s who may be able to assist with the investigation.

It is believed he knocked at the door of the house moments before the petrol was squirted through the letterbox.

Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident in Mallow, gardaí believed they have foiled a potential armed robbery following the discovery of stolen firearms.

Acting on intelligence, they carried out a search of the site of a former Statoil petrol station near Beaufort Terrace, Mallow.

“The search was carried out on May 23, during which we found two shotguns,” the source said.

Gardaí know that one of the weapons was previously stolen during a burglary of a house in New Ross, Co Wexford.

They also recovered some ammunition at the site.

Gardaí are still trying to trace where the other shotgun was taken.

Both of the firearms had since been converted to sawn-off shotguns.

“We believe that they were probably being stashed for use at a later date in an armed robbery,” the garda source said. “We will have them forensically examined by ballistics experts to see if they have been recently fired.”