Cork victim feared for his life during attack by gang with slash hooks and hurleys

A man who was assaulted with slash hooks and hurleys said he thought he was going to be killed.

Philip Murphy, 46, from Knocknaheeny in Cork, was attacked on Cork’s Western Rd at around 3.40pm on Sunday. Speaking about his ordeal following his release from Cork University Hospital (CUH), he said he knows one of his attackers.

“I was walking along when I was called over to a car,” he said.

“Two fellas got out with a slash hook and a hurley. I tried to run but I got a belt over the head with the hurley. I fell but got up and tried to run again, but fell down.

“Then I started getting belts of the slash hook. I got an awful fright. I thought I was going to be killed.

“There was two fellas attacking me and at least two still in the car. I knew one of the fellas attacking me.

“I knew I was badly hurt because when I was able to sit up, blood was pumping out of me, and I was in incredible pain and total shock.

“Three women and a taxi driver helped me and they got the reg of the car. And an ambulance just happened to be in the area.”

One eyewitness, Amanda, became upset on Cork’s 96fm’s Opinion Line yesterday as she recalled how she and her four-year-old son saw the attack unfold.

“It was a brutal attack on that man. My four-year-old son was screaming in the buggy. No child should have to see that. It was devastating,” she said

Mr Murphy was rushed by ambulance to CUH where he was treated for extensive injuries, including a large gash on his head, a large gash on his left leg, and two stab wounds to his stomach.

Gardaí interviewed him yesterday and have seized two cars, one recovered in the southside and one from the northside .

Mr Murphy believes the attack may be linked to a car crash on the northside of the city five years ago in which two teenagers were killed.

He was the driver of a car which collided with another vehicle on Harbourview Rd in Knocknaheeny in May 2010, resulting in the deaths of two passengers in the other car, CJ Dolan, 16, and Derry O’Callaghan, 19.

Mr Murphy was subsequently jailed for six years for his role in the crash, serving four and a half years in Limerick, Midlands, Portlaoise, and Wheatfield prisons, before he was released last November.

He said the crash was a “genuine accident” and he has served his time.

“I have never been involved in any feud and I just want to get on with my life now,” he said.

His father, Donie, urged people to come forward to gardaí.

“I would encourage people not to be afraid to tell the gardaí,” he said. “That’s why these people are getting away with it.”

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