New Ross Standard

Elderly man on crutches is viciously assaulted

- By DAVID LOOBY

A man in his eighties on crutches was viciously attacked on New Year’s Eve, suffering a suspected broken hip and a bump to the head.

The man was walking through a car park in New Ross when he was set upon by two men. He suffered a bump in the head in the altercatio­n.

Marie Doyle - who will be co-opted to Wexford County Council in January - condemned the attack on the man on Monday afternoon, as an ‘utterly cowardly disgrace’.

‘I understand, that at around 3.15 p.m., a group of men viciously attacked an elderly man on crutches, in the Supervalu parking lot between the Quay and South Main Street. They then escaped in a car.’

Several witnesses and passers-by immediatel­y went to the aid of the man - calling the emergency services, and also getting blankets, foil wraps, and a heat pack for him.

‘He was kept company after that by several Good Samaritans - whose own common decency was in sharp contrast to the uniquely and utterly cowardly disgrace, by the gang of thugs.’

Gardaí arrived, followed by an ambulance, before 4 p.m.

‘ The unfortunat­e man had to sit on the cold ground the entire time - as he had a potential hip issue,’ Ms Doyle said.

‘ This assault doesn’t represent my town - the ordinary people who helped the man do. Anybody who knows anything about this, should contact the gardaí immediatel­y.’

Ms Doyle said: ‘I will point out, that while all the emergency personnel were entirely praisewort­hy, at least two members of the public who tried to contact the New Ross Garda station directly, were unable to get through. I hope that garda management will clarify how the public contact the station - and are given the regular gardaí proper basic station resources.’

A Garda spokespers­on confirmed they are investigat­ing the attack, adding that the man’s partner contacted garda to say he had broken his hip. The spokespers­on said nobody has been arrested, adding gardai an be contacted on 051 426030. THE Gardai are investigat­ing the gruesome discovery of skeletal human remains on a roadside ditch near Ferns.

The grim discovery was made at around 11 a.m. yesterday morning at Ballyandre­w, by two local people out walking.

News of the discovery sent shock waves throughout Enniscorth­y and Ferns yesterday as people grappled to understand how human remains could lay undiscover­ed close to a busy roadway for what may have been some length of time.

Speaking to this newspaper yesterday Sergeant Colm Matthews from Enniscorth­y Garda Station said the area where the remains were located was immediatel­y sealed off.

Members of the Garda technical unit attended the scene to assist local gardai in determinin­g the circumstan­ces leading to the person’s death.

Sgt Matthews said the local gardai were also awaiting the assistance of the state pathologis­t to determine the sex of the remains and to ascertain how long the body may have been at the scene.

The gardai are also hoping the state pathologis­t will help them determine whether the person died in suspicious circumstan­ces or as a result of natural causes.

‘At the moment we don’t know whether the cause of death is suspicious or not,’ said Sgt Matthews.

‘We also don’t know at this stage whether the body is that of a male of female,’ he added.

Due to fading daylight yesterday evening it was expected the pathologis­t’s examinatio­n of the body will not take place until this morning and the area where the remains are located was sealed off overnight.

‘The remains were discovered by two people out walking and was located on the ditch beside the road,’ said Sgt Matthews.

There was a large garda presence at the scene throughout the day yesterday.

 ??  ??
 ??  ?? The scene outside Ferns yesterday (Monday).
The scene outside Ferns yesterday (Monday).

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Ireland