Renewed appeal over street attack

Gardaí investigating a vicious street assault which was captured on video have renewed their appeal for witnesses or for anyone with footage of the incident, to come forward.

The appeal came as gardaí confirmed yesterday they are still investigating the attack which occurred on the Grand Parade, Cork City, late on Halloween night.

Footage shot by an onlooker on a mobile phone shortly before midnightshowed a group of young men swarming around another man and wrestling him to the ground.

It then shows the victim, who is lying motionless, facedown on the pavement, being kicked several times about the head and upper body, while being beaten at least twice by what appears to be a crutch. The victim was not seriously injured.

Gardaí, who were on the scene quickly, arrested three young men, two aged 17 and one aged 18, a short time later for unrelated alleged public order incidents.

The shocking footage was posted online and has been viewed almost 600,000 times in the last week.

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A senior Garda spokesman said they are liaising with the victim as part of their investigation. And he said detectives are still investigating a possible link between the initial assault and the alleged public order incidents nearby.

He accepted such a violent incident in the heart of the city centre can affect public confidence. But he insisted such incidents are relatively infrequent.

He said gardaí are using funding under Operation Thor to target suspects roaming the city streets and who are involved in street robberies.

He said gardaí are committed to gathering enough evidence to bring people involved in such crimes before the courts: “But that process can take longer than we would like”.

He appealed for anyone who witnessed the crutch assault, or for anyone who recorded the incident on a mobile phone, to contact gardaí at Anglesea Street.