Father speaks of heartbreak over gang attack on autistic son
Liam Davin yesterday confirmed that he has reported the incident, in which his son was force fed twigs and made to expose himself, to the gardaĂ.
Speaking to 96FM, Mr Davin said that he learned of the incident when a young girl called to his home on Monday to warn him that footage of the attack was circulating on Facebook.
“I was quite shocked, I was quite stunned, because in the past when people have come and told me what has happened to him, it has been that they’ve called him names or thrown stones at him,” Mr Davin said.
“It just makes your heart so heavy, it just hurts so much.
“But this attack was just beyond anything that has happened in the past, or what we have heard has happened in the past.
“It was like being hit with a hammer, I just didn’t know what to think.
Absolutely heartbreaking listening to Liam on @OpinionLine96 but fair play to @pjcoogan on his handling of it #ol96
— Mags (@maggiemoo83) April 2, 2015
“I was also aware, not to doubt what the young girl had told me, that I couldn’t really do anything with this because I didn’t really have enough proof to go to the guards with. At that moment in time, it was just hearsay. I wanted to believe it hadn’t happened.”
Mr Davin said that he reported the matter to the gardaĂ on Tuesday after news of the incident broke on the 96FM Opinion Line programme.
He said that the attack was all the worse because his son’s tormentors filmed the incident.
“I can’t believe that somebody would think that this was entertaining.
“It’s frighteningly sick behaviour, that you would inflict this on a fellow human being, someone who is so vulnerable. It was a cowardly act, it’s nothing to be proud of,” he said.
Mr Davin said that he does not know his son’s attackers, but reported one name that has been linked with the abuse to the authorities.
“I think that they have to be dealt with. I think that they need to be dealt with severely. My son, the little bit of freedom that he did have, we have to take it away from him, we can’t let him out now. He can’t go down to the local shop, he can’t go down to the village anymore. His freedom has been taken away.
@OpinionLine96 Hope that Liam and his family know that absolutely everybody here in Carrigaline is behind his family 100%. #ol96
— Mags (@maggiemoo83) April 2, 2015
“When they talk about a parent’s worst nightmare, that’s what this one has turned into.
“We have always been worried about him going out, but equally it is heartbreaking to try and stop him.
“He needs to have his life too, he’s entitled to go and run around and hang out and stuff, but we have always been worried about it and made sure he didn’t stay out too late at night. And now the worst thing that could have happened has happened really.
“My heart is breaking. He’s done nothing wrong but he’s having something taken away from him and we have to take it away from him.
“It needs to be peppered with promises of other things, but we haven’t totally worked it out yet.
“It brings up a social question. How did we get here? What made these children act like that? What’s going on with them? What’s broken? What’s wrong that this is something that you consider entertainment and what brought you to that warped decision?”
Mr Davin said that questions should also be asked of the attackers’ parents.
“Have a look inside yourself and ask yourself how did my child, who grew up from an innocent baby, do something like this?”
Liam talks about the bullying of his son, who has Autism. Also, the Dunnes strike.Todays @OpinionLine96 podcast is uphttp://t.co/XMN1EupX20
— PJ Coogan (@pjcoogan) April 2, 2015
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