Teenager saw his father ‘cut up’ with meat-cleaver

A 14-year-old boy saw his father being "cut open" with a meat-cleaver as they sat in their van waiting for his mother to come out of a shop, an inquest heard.

William Stokes, aged 48, from the Rosanna Rd halting site in Tipperary town, was an innocent victim of an “unprovoked, violent and severe” attack when parked outside a supermarket on the evening of December 18, 2009, at Bridge St in Tipperary.

The inquest into the father-of-four’s death heard yesterday that nobody has ever been convicted for the assault committed on Mr Stokes.