Run down then battered with baseball bats

A MAN was deliberately run over by a car before being attacked with baseball bats in Dublin yesterday.

The attack took place on Parnell Street, on the north side of the city at 12.30am on Friday.

The victim, a Traveller from Bayside on Dublin’s northside, is known to gardaí for involvement in minor crime.

The man, who is in his 40s, told gardaí that he was attacked by a group of foreign men who ran him over before beating him with baseball bats.

The victim, who received serious head injuries, was able to talk to officers at the scene and give them a brief description of his attackers before passing out.

A number of witnesses to the attack have also come forward to give evidence.

Gardaí have not ruled out that a criminal gang or other Travellers may have carried out the assault.

After the victim was struck with what officers believe was a green or blue Audi, up to five men emerged from the car.

They set upon their victim with baseball bats.

The men later drove off in the direction of Gardiner Street.

The man’s head injuries are serious but not life-threatening.

He remained in the Mater Hospital last night. Gardaí at Mountjoy hope to interview the victim again today or over the weekend when he is deemed fit enough.

‘It was a deliberate and savage attack,’ a source said. ‘There seems to have been an intention to kill.

‘Gardaí are currently trying to determine why he was targeted. It was not a random attack.’

The road was closed for a time overnight while members of the Garda Technical Bureau carried out a forensic examination of the scene.

A statement said officers ‘are investigating a hit-and-run traffic collision and an alleged assault on Parnell Street at the junction of Hill Street in Dublin 1, which happened at about 12.20am on Friday morning’. The statement added: ‘A man in his 40s was discovered with serious injuries following the incident. The man was removed by ambulance to The Mater Hospital.

‘Gardaí believe that the man was struck by a green or blue-coloured Audi saloon car which left the scene in the direction of Summerhill.

‘Witnesses also allege that a number of men got out from this car and assaulted the man.’

Anyone with information on the incident is urged to contact gardaí at Mountjoy Garda station on (01) 666 8600.