‘Finglas is more dangerous than favelas in Brazil’
Victim of random attack has left Ireland out of fear
A BRAZILIAN man declared “Finglas is more dangerous than the Favelas” after he was beaten so badly with a steel bat that he feared he was going to die.
Ricardo Acruche spent a week in hospital after the brutal attack in North Dublin which left him with a broken jaw that required surgery, fractured ribs and damaged teeth.
The 35-year-old had lived in Ireland for seven years – but decided to return home to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil just three months after the assault because he didn’t feel safe anymore.
Ricardo had been working as a kitchen assistant in a restaurant in Tipperary before the attack and travelled to Finglas to go on a date with a woman on June 19, 2023.
He told how after getting off the bus on Jamestown Road near Lanesborough Grove he was struck in the back of the head with a steel bat by a hooded thug.
Speaking from his home in Rio de Janeiro about the attack for the first time, Ricardo told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “The attacker was very cruel and he was thirsty to kill me.
UNCONSCIOUS
“The initial blow caused me to go unconscious. I woke back up and the man with the bat was striking the entire left side of my body.
“I’m sure he was trying to kill me. I managed to get back to my feet and then I realised there were also five other men who were with him.
“I just ran as fast as I could for five minutes straight, at one point I nearly got hit by a car.
“The gang continued to chase me. My whole face was completely covered in blood and a woman saw me and put me into the car and drove me to the garda station, she is my hero.
“As I got into the car, I could see the gang had caught up with me.
“Thankfully, the woman drove away very quickly.
“She saved my life and I never got to thank her properly for what she did for me that day.”
He said before travelling to Finglas he didn’t know much about the area. But now believes it’s similar to the infamous Favelas in Brazil – just more dangerous.
Ricardo explained: “Finglas is more dangerous than the Favelas.
“In the Favelas in Brazil, you might be threatened with a gun and questioned if the locals don’t recognise you and they might hassle you. But in
He was trying to kill me...it’s a miracle that I’m not dead
Finglas, I just showed up and was nearly killed with a steel bat just seconds after I got off the bus. The fact that I’m not dead is a miracle.
“Something like this never happened to me in Brazil. I don’t know why this happened to me, I don’t have any enemies in Ireland.
“I feel like this is an injustice, I really didn’t deserve this.
“I have never gotten in trouble with the police. All I want to do is work, study and live a normal life.” Ricardo was initially brought to Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown but was transferred to St James’s Hospital where he underwent surgery for his broken jaw – which meant he wasn’t able to give a statement to the gardai for three months.
He explained: “I couldn’t talk for months after the attack. After I left the hospital, I didn’t really leave my house for three months.
“I was so frightened, I began to have panic attacks while out on the street. I was afraid of going outside.
“My mum who was back in Rio was so worried about me. I didn’t feel safe in Ireland anymore and decided to go back to Brazil.
“The day before I left, I made a statement to the guards about the attack. I’ve sent them emails but I haven’t heard anything back.”
When asked if he thought Ireland was safe for immigrants, Ricardo said: “Everybody will have a different experience but I’m not the only foreign national who has been attacked.
“Some Irish people view immigrants as less than human but we are not less than them – we are all human beings.”
Ricardo said he is now looking for a lawyer because he wants to sue the State over the assault and told how he has received no response from the gardai about their probe into the brutal beating despite emailing.
A Garda spokesman said they received a “report of an assault that occurred on Jamestown Road, Finglas, Dublin 11 at approximately 4:00pm on Monday 19th June 2023.
“A male in his 30s sustained serious injuries and was conveyed to Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown for treatment. No arrests have been made at this time.”