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Men forced into river during attack

Thursday, 13 March 2008

TWO men were forced to jump into a river to avoid a vicious beating after been set upon in an unprovoked attack by a gang of teenagers in a popular Northside park.
The men, both in their 40s and from Raheny, were kicked and punched by a group of five teenagers in broad daylight in St Anne’s Park, as they innocently took a dog for a walk.
The attack occurred at 5.50pm on Thursday, February 28, and left both men, who were extremely shocked, with bruising and facial injuries.
Speaking to Northside People, one of the men, who did not wish to be named, said he couldn’t believe the viciousness of the attack.
He said if it wasn’t for the fact his friend was knocked into the river and that he jumped in after him, they could have suffered much more serious injuries.
“This attack happened just completely out of the blue as I was walking my dog through the park like I would do on any other day,” the man stated.
“We had reached an area of the park down by the river that is slightly isolated and a group of five lads, who looked no older than 18, appeared on the scene.
“If I had been on my own I probably would have been a little bit wary, but the fact that there were two of us, both grown men in our 40s, I didn’t think there was anything to worry about.”
However, the man added that, out of nowhere, the tallest guy in the gang punched his friend straight in the face and began kicking him.
“My friend then fell down the bank into the river and to be honest, it was probably his saving grace, as it meant he couldn’t be hit any more,” he said.
“But the gang continued punching and kicking me until I managed to break free and the only thing I could think of was to jump into the river to get away from them.”
He said that as both he and his friend tried to get to the far side of the river, the gang was shouting: “brick them, brick them”.
“It was extremely frightening at the time because we just did not expect to get attacked like that for no reason,” the man stated.
“When we got to the far side of the river and climbed up the bank, we immediately rang the gardai in Raheny.”
He said the gang didn’t seem to be drunk and didn’t believe they launched the attack in order to mug them.
“My friend did lose his mobile phone during the attack but I don’t think they had intended to rob us,” he said.
“Maybe it was one of these so called happy slapping attacks where they record it on their mobile phones but it was completely crazy and just shows how vulnerable you can be.”
The man who spoke to Northside People suffered a black eye from the incident, but warned that it could have been far worse.
“What if I had been an elderly person out walking in the park on my own and got attacked like this?”
However, he said that while the incident was shocking at the time, it wouldn’t stop him from going to the park.
“I have been back into the park to walk the dog with my wife because there is no way I would let this affect me to the point that I wouldn’t go back there,” he declared.
“But something needs to be done about gangs like this as they are terrorising people.”
The man said that while nobody witnessed the attack at the time, there were many people in other areas of the park.
He has urged anyone who may know the gang or has information on the attack, to immediately contact Raheny Garda Station at 6664300.

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