Garda injured in Cavan attack discharged from hospital

Gardaí are appealing for anyone who knows anything about the assault or who have video footage in any format from the vicinity of Loughan House prison to contact them. Stock picture

The garda who was injured in an attack in Cavan has been discharged from hospital.

The garda was discharged on Tuesday evening from Sligo General Hospital. He was taken there in the early hours of Monday morning after being assaulted and doused in petrol. Nobody has yet been arrested in connection with the horror attack and the injured garda’s colleagues were planning to interview him in a bid to establish the motive for the incident.

The garda, who has been stationed in Blacklion, Co Cavan, for the past three years, was travelling back to his station from the district headquarters in Cavan town when he was attacked at around 2am on Monday.

The garda is from Roscommon and is known in GAA and soccer circles. He has been a garda for six years.

He suffered a concussion in the attack and could not remember what happened.

One focus of the investigation is whether he came across something which aroused his suspicion just before being attacked by at least two men.

The injured garda managed to make contact with colleagues for assistance but could not explain what happened to him when gardaí arrived at the scene.

Teams of gardaí have conducted searches of the area, while others conducted door-to-door enquiries. While there is no CCTV footage available from the scene itself, near Loughan House open prison, gardaí have harvested footage from local premises.

Chief Superintendent Alan McGovern has appealed to any local homeowners who have private CCTV systems on their properties to contact gardaí.

He said gardaí will now be working on different strands of evidence gathered in a bid to find the attackers.

The Garda Representative Association says that the incident shows the dangers members of the force face when going out on patrol, particularly gardaí who have to work alone. The association wants measures in place which would enhance the safety of officers working on their own.

Gardaí want to speak to any person driving on the N16, Cavan, passing Loughan House Prison, or the R206 and R207 at their junction with the N16, between 7pm on Sunday February 27 and 3am on Monday February 28, and in particular any person with video footage (dashcam or other format) to contact investigating Gardaí.

An Garda Síochána are also appealing for any person with any information on this incident to contact Cavan Garda Station on 049 4368800, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666111, or any garda station.