Gardaí investigating organised crime detain two in connection with face-slashing incident

Gardaí arrested two people in Cork yesterday morning in connection with a garda investigation into an organised crime group and serious assaults in the citywrites Liz Dunphy of the Evening Echo.

A family dispute is believed to have fuelled a number of daytime attacks on women earlier this year, and it is believed that yesterday’s arrests may be linked to these incidences.

A woman aged 20 and a man, aged 21 were arrested in the Blarney area on Friday and were detained under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2007, which empowers gardaí to hold a suspect for up to seven days.

The suspects have been detained at the Togher and Bridewell Garda Stations.

The arrests are believed to be linked to a vicious afternoon knife attack on a 29-year-old woman on Friar Street earlier this year.

A woman’s face was badly scarred after she was slashed around her mouth with a Stanley knife as she left her car at approximately 12pm on Wednesday, March 23.

The woman was rushed to Cork University Hospital where she underwent emergency surgery for what were described as “horrific injuries”. Although her injuries were not life threatening, she was both physically scarred and mentally traumatised.

Weeks earlier, another woman was allegedly assaulted in a mobile phone robbery in the city.

A man was arrested in relation to this incident and the case is before the courts. He is known to the victim whose face was badly stabbed two weeks later.

Gardaí believe that the parties involved in both attacks are known to each other.

The incidents may be part of a dispute between these two families.