Suspect in baby assault is released

A TEENAGER was released without charge yesterday after being questioned by gardaí about a serious assault on a 10-week-old baby girl.

The 18-year-old had been arrested in Dublin at 6pm on Thursday but was released from Garda custody at around the same time yesterday evening.

It is understood that the suspect had been questioned by specialist Garda investigators at Drogheda garda station.

A file on the tragic case will now be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The baby remained in a critical condition last night at Temple Street Children’s Hospital in Dublin.

It is understood that senior officers made the decision to arrest the suspect when they became “dubious” about an account that the young man gave investigating gardaí about last Monday’s suspected assault in Ardee, Co Louth.

The man was arrested on suspicion of assault causing serious harm to the child.

He is originally from Co Cork, but had been living with his partner in Ardee in recent times. The investigation is being led out of Ardee garda station by Superintendent Fergus Treanor.

Critical

The tiny baby was clinging to life last night on a ventilator at the hospital in Dublin.

She had been transferred to the facility after being presented at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Co Louth, on Monday evening by her parents.

Gardaí have been investigating if the baby had been assaulted in an apartment in Ardee, Co Louth.

However, officers investigating the case have also probed another account that three “unknown men” approached and “accidentally” knocked over the man as he was pushing the baby in a pram.