Man detained on suspicion of assaulting ten-week-old baby
A YOUNG man has been arrested on suspicion of seriously assaulting a ten-week-old baby girl.
The infant is critically ill and a wellplaced source said there is ‘unfortunately a good chance’ the child will not survive the next 24 hours.
The man, who is aged 18 and originally from Cork, but living in Ardee, Co. Louth, was arrested in Dublin yesterday evening on suspicion of assault causing serious harm.
He has been taken to Drogheda Garda Station. It is understood that he is known to the infant.
A Garda statement read: ‘He was arrested in the Dublin area at approximately 6pm and is currently detained in a Co. Louth Garda Station under the provisions of Section 4 – Criminal Justice Act 1984.’
Earlier yesterday it emerged that gardaí were treating as ‘suspicious’ the serious injuries sustained by the ten-week-old baby girl.
The infant remains in a critical condition at Temple Street Hospital in Dublin after sustaining serious head injuries and a number of broken bones in Co. Louth.
The baby was rushed to Drogheda hospital on Monday evening by her young parents.
Such was the extent of her injuries, the infant was transferred to Temple Street Hospital on Tuesday. Sources confirmed that how the infant sustained her injuries was being treated as ‘suspicious’ and that ‘accidental injuries’ had been ‘essentially ruled out’.
The baby’s young father had given gardaí a statement.
He claimed he was walking alone with his daughter in the Riverbank area of Ardee, Co. Louth, on Monday evening.
He said that while they were out walking, a number of individuals ‘knocked him and the buggy over’.
He said the baby fell from her buggy and sustained her traumatic injuries.
He then returned to the nearby apartment he shares with his girlfriend and the baby girl was rushed to Drogheda hospital.