Murder inquiry into Limerick street attack

A murder probe is under way in Limerick after an autopsy revealed a middle-aged man found unconscious on a city centre street on Wednesday died from head injuries during a violent attack.

The deceased, Gerard Freyne, aged 51, had resided at a sheltered home in the city.

He had been arrested earlier on Wednesday for a public order offence and gardaí believe he got into a fight some time after his release.

It was believed he was knocked to the ground at Lord Edward St near the People’s Park.

A passerby had alerted gardaí at around 7.45pm and the injured man had been taken to University Hospital Limerick.

Later that night, he was transferred to University Hospital Cork where he died at around 5am yesterday.

Gardaí have appealed for people who may have been in the Lord Edward St area on Wednesday evening to get in touch. Insp Ronan McDonagh, leading the probe, said a man was seen leaving the scene shortly before Mr Freyne was found. He said the deceased may have received a punch which knocked him down, resulting in Mr Freyne hitting his head off the pavement.

No weapon was found at the scene.

Earlier this year, Mr Freyne’s son, Jason Freyne, aged 23, was jailed for carrying out a “drive by” shooting while mounted on a bicycle. He pleaded guilty to posession of a sawn-off 12-gauge shotgun on May 9, 2015, and received a five-and-a-half-year sentence.

While cycling down Hyde Rd at Prospect, wearing a bulletproof vest, he jumped off the bike and opened fire on a group of people who included children. He was subsequently arrested following a chase through the city pursued on his bike by a Garda squad car.

Meanwhile, in a separate crime incident, a man, aged 37, was in custody in Limerick last night after cocaine and cannabis with a street value of €200,000 was found after a joint operation in Croom involving gardaí and customs officers.