Two-year-old stabbed to death in apartment

Gardaí have arrested a woman in her 40s as part of a murder probe after a two-year-old boy was found stabbed to death yesterday.

Forensics officers at the scene where two-year-old Hassan Khan, inset, was found dead in an apartment on Shanganagh Rd, Shankill, Co Dublin, yesterday. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

Hassan Khan, from Ballybrack, Dublin, died after receiving a single stab wound to the neck from a sharp instrument.

The boy’s death occurred in the Ridge Hall apartments, a gated complex on Shanganagh Rd, just north of Shankill in south Co Dublin.

Hassan’s father, 61-year-old Mohamed Saleem Khan was located by gardaí last night and told of his son’s tragic death.

Other members of his family were also informed, a Garda spokeswoman said last night.

Gardaí who were called to the apartment made the discovery shortly after 2pm. The woman was arrested at the scene under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act and is being held for questioning at Dún Laoghaire Garda Station.

Nobody other than the woman and the boy was at the apartment when officers arrived. The boy was later pronounced dead and it is understood a murder investigation will begin today.

Hassan’s body remained at the scene for several hours after the discovery and the apartment was sealed off for forensic examination and preliminary investigations by the state pathologist.

Neighbours last night placed flowers outside the complex and expressed horror at what had occurred.

“It’s terrible, such a shock,” said Michelle Dunne, who found out about the tragedy when she came home after collecting her children from school.

“He was a lovely little boy,” she told RTÉ. “He used to love being out playing with the children on the green.

“It is just hard to believe that happens right on your doorstep; a little boy that used to play with my children.”

During the summer, Hassan was the subject of a Child Rescue Ireland Alert, a system that enables gardaí to seek the assistance of the public where a child is suspected of being abducted and when there is believed to be a serious threat to their safety.

The alert, issued on the evening of August 10, sought the public’s assistance in tracing Hassan and his father, who were believed to be travelling together in Mr Khan’s car.

The alert was issued at 7.23pm after reports that the boy and his father had been seen earlier in Ballybrack.

It was stood down less than an hour later when both father and son were found safe and well. Hassan had not been harmed, nor had there been any attempt to harm him.