AN ENGLISH teenager who claimed his finger was severed in a St Patrick's Day assault may have been confused after drinking alcohol before the incident, his father said yesterday.
Guy Wallace (17) from Somerset had claimed he lost his finger in an attack in Dublin but a Garda investigation subsequently uncovered CCTV footage which showed him attempting to climb a fence near O'Connell Street and falling off it.
In a search of the area on Wednesday morning, gardaí found the teenager's finger on top of the eight-foot metal fence.
The young man had been head-butted on O'Connell Street, after which he ran away and accidently severed the digit. Gardaí are investigating the "minor assault".
His father, William Wallace, said the shock and trauma of being attacked may have contributed to his son's confusion surrounding the incident.
"The fact is that if he was attacked in a fast-food restaurant - and there is footage of that - he escaped, he ran away.
"And when running away, I believe he climbed this high metal fence where the injury occurred," he said.
Mr Wallace admitted alcohol may also have played a part in the incident.
"Obviously, he had been out there celebrating with friends and other people, so I dare say, yes, alcohol might have been taken.
"It must have been, I think, because obviously that led to a certain amount of confusion," he told an interviewer on RTÉ Radio 1.
Mr Wallace said his son was still feeling very down and trying to come to terms with having lost the finger from his right hand.
"He has had plastic surgery and we're in and out of hospital checking that it is healing properly.
"He is depressed by the fact that his piano playing and rugby playing won't be the same but he has to go on.
"He has to adapt and he is being very brave about it," Mr Wallace said.
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