GARDAÍ are growing increasingly fearful that a violent feud, which led to a man being stabbed in the chest last Saturday (October 28), will escalate out of control and lead to loss of life.
The knife used in the 3.10am horror attack on Hyde Road was left wedged in the man’s chest until he was rushed by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick where medics successfully removed the weapon.
According to sources, the handle of the knife broke off and the blade was left stuck in the man’s sternum such was the force used in the knife attack.
The man, in his 30s, was recovering in hospital and is expected to make a full recovery from his injuries.
The violent attack follows a recent shooting which targeted the house of a well-known convicted criminal and former associate of the Dundon McCarthy gang, who was previously shot in a machine gun attack at his home.
During the mid-2000s gun attack, 14 shots were fired at the man and, although he was hit twice in the leg, he miraculously survived the hail of automatic gunfire.
Following last Saturday’s knife attack, Roxboro Road Gardaí appealed for witnesses “particularly individuals who were present in Hyde Road area at the time of the incident, and those with video or dashcam footage from the area at the time”.
Mounting tensions
The feud has escalated in recent weeks after several shootings in the Hyde Road area since February.
A falling out between a drug dealer associated with the Dundon mob and another male in the Hyde Road area has led to tensions brewing in the south city suburb.
Shots were fired at a house on Hyde Road during the early hours of October 12 last, but no one was injured.
Shots were also fired at a house in the O’Malley Park area on October 5, but again no injuries were reported.
A man was injured when a pipe bomb exploded and caused damage to two houses on Hyde Road on July 15 last. The man, aged in his early 30s, received injuries to his arm which Gardaí described as “non-life threatening”.
On June 4, Gardaí appealed for information about a drive-by shooting on Hyde Road which occurred around 1.15pm that afternoon.
“Things are beginning to fester now, and I hope it doesn’t spill out of control,” said a source familiar with the feud.
“There has been a noticeable increase in the amount of Garda patrols and Garda visibility in parts of the city after the last shooting, Gardaí are worried that all this will leave someone dead,” they added.
A separate violent feud in the city between the late 90s and mid 2000s resulted in 19 murders, however there had been a lull in criminals feuding with one another in recent years.
Now, Gardaí are once again monitoring known flashpoint areas in an attempt keep a lid on rising tensions between rival criminal groups on the north and south sides of the city.
Tensions have also been exacerbated following the death of convicted Moyross gangland killer David ‘Frog Eyes’ Stanners, who passed away in his cell at Mountjoy Prison last week.
Mr Stanners, who is to be laid to rest in the coming days, was serving a life sentence for the murder of crime boss Kieran Keane and attempted murder of Keane’s nephew and breadman, Owen Treacy, in January 2003.
