Gardai find knife used in 'merciless killing'

The family of a Dublin man who died in hospital on Sunday, three days after being beaten and stabbed, described as "disgraceful" reports that he was attacked because he was a burglar.

John Cunningham (26), from Kiltalawn in Tallaght, was attacked at the junction of New Nangor Road and Fonthill Road, Clondalkin, at 8.15pm on Friday.

Gardaí believe a snooker cue was used during the attack before the victim was stabbed once in the upper body with a long-blade knife. The weapons used were recovered at the scene.

Mr Cunningham was rushed by ambulance to Tallaght hospital. Surgery was performed on Saturday but he remained critically ill and died on Sunday night.

He was a married man with two sons, John (4) and Joe (1). His wife, Mary, is expecting a third child. The victim's sister, Bridget Cunningham, said the family had been "devastated" by the events.

"When he came through the operation on Saturday night the doctor said it was a miracle that he pulled through and that things were looking well," she said.

"But at eight o'clock last night things took a turn. That was it; gone. I never left the hospital. how could you leave him? It's not right, he'd run away from trouble. He'd always mind his own business."

"His wife is 3½ months expecting. It's very hard on her, she's not coping at all. There's two poor children left now. How is she going to tell her children that their father was murdered?"

The dead man's aunt, Helen Donoghue, said the family was anxious that those responsible be brought to justice.

"We're after losing four already in the family in the last year. My sister Anne McInerney was killed in a car, her son Michael was drowned. He was swimming horses in Co Tipperary and fell into the river."

"My uncle Thomas Donoghue died on December 31st, a week after Anne was killed. And then the little boy Gerard Donoghue was killed in a car as well. It's like a never ending story."

Mr Cunningham's mother Bridget said: "How could anybody do this and leave two children without a father?"

The dead man's father, also named John, was too distressed to speak to the media yesterday.

Garda sources said the dead man's murder was linked to a suspected attempted break-in at a commercial premises on the Old Nangor Road on Friday night.

Detectives are working on the theory that a woman who lived beside the premises believed her house was about to be broken into and alerted two relatives, both men in their twenties from the Clondalkin area.

It is believed these two alerted three of their friends. The group gave chase to Mr Cunningham in two vehicles, catching him and fatally assaulting him. The victim was with another man who escaped.

Two men in their twenties were arrested in Clondalkin in the early hours of Saturday morning. They have since been released without charge. A file is being prepared for the DPP.

Gardaí are following a definite line of inquiry in tracing the other men at the scene of the attack. Quick progress is expected.

Det Insp Walter O'Sullivan of Clondalkin Garda station said they were appealing to any members of the public who were on the Old Nangor Road, New Nangor Road or Fonthill Road, between 8pm and 8.30pm to contact them.

"This was a merciless killing," Det Insp O'Sullivan said.