Man who led gardaí to body in squat is suspect

Gardaí believe a man stabbed to death in a derelict pub had been squatting there and was killed by a friend with whom he had been drinking.

The alarm was raised when the suspected killer ran to a Luas tram at the O2 stop in the docklands in Dublin’s north inner city and banged on the windows at about 10.50pm on Wednesday.

“Some of the Luas staff saw this guy with a large amount of blood all over him and banging on the widows of the tram looking for someone to help him,” said one source.

Gardaí were called and when they got to the scene the man, a Polish national in his 30s, took them to the derelict Vallance & McGrath pub on nearby North Wall Quay, Dublin 1.

After gaining access to the property, gardaí found it was being used as a squat by a number of separate groups of foreign nationals.

The man who had raised the alarm took gardaí to the third floor where they found the victim, a Polish national aged 42 years. He had sustained stab wounds and was dead.

Another man, also from Poland and in his 20s, was found in the property and had sustained knife wounds. He was taken to the Mater hospital. His injuries are not life threatening.

Attacked
Gardaí believe the injured man and the deceased were attacked by the man who had run to the Luas stop to raise the alarm before bringing gardaí back to the scene of the killing to reveal the body.

He was arrested at the scene and was last night being questioned under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act at Store Street Garda station.

The investigating team are working on the theory that the three men were known to each other and were drinking in the squat when the suspect stabbed the others.

Another two men, also Polish, were found living in the building, but they were in no way involved in Wednesday night’s incident.

The suspect can be detained for up to 24 hours without charge, not including periods when his questioning is suspended, meaning he was due to be charged or released by this morning.