Man dumped on beach was assaulted

Gardaí believe the man whose body was found dumped on a popular beach had been assaulted elsewhere, and that a second crime scene exists that may yield clues to whoever is responsible.

The Lithuanian man, who was in his mid-to late-40s, was naked from the waist up and had clear injuries to his torso and head.

It is believed a sharp weapon was used to inflict some of the injuries, including one which had cut one of his ears into two pieces.

There was no identification on him and sources would not confirm if he had a mobile phone on him.

The man was wearing jeans and runners.

The grim discovery was made by a man who was walking his dog on Mornington Beach in Co Meath at 9.30am yesterday.

“He had been badly beaten about his head and a sharp implement was used. It is nearly as if someone hacked at him,” said one source.

It was clear to those first on the scene that the man had not been washed up by the sea. Locals also said the wind direction meant that it was unlikely he had gone overboard or had drowned.

“He had severe head injuries and a lot of cuts and bruises to his upper body,” said another source.

“It was strange that he had no identification papers or a driving licence or anything like that.”

It is likely that at least two people were involved in dumping the body on the beach; when it was found, the waterline was some distance away. The body was removed for an autopsy by State Pathologist Marie Cassidy at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital before the tide came back in at 3pm.

Gardaí examined a section of the Marsh Road in Drogheda, which leads to Mornington, to see if there could be a connection with the body dumped on the beach.

It is believed that samples of what may be blood were taken from the area but it will take a number of weeks for them to be analysed.

Local people said that they did not see or hear anything suspicious, and when they saw the Garda tape sealing off the entrance to the beach, they were reminded of the murder of Roy Coddington, who was shot after being lured to Mornington in 2007.

“It was like something out of Love/Hate,” said Andrew McCartney, who lives in St Mary’s Villas, a row of houses parallel to the beach.

“It is not often you see the gardaí down here. It is a quiet area and it is really unusual for this sort of thing to happen.”

“I walk on the beach the whole time with my dogs and often wondered would I see a body washed up. But not this,” said a local woman, who did not want to give her name.