Gardaí seek three who fled scene of stabbing

GARDAÍ ARE searching for three men who fled from the scene of a stabbing in west Dublin in which a man died yesterday.

A 28-year-old father of one died after receiving stab wounds during an altercation outside the front door of his house in the Castlecurragh Vale estate, Mulhuddart.

The victim was named locally as Gerard Burnett, who was living at the house with his partner and son.

Gardaí believe three men called to the door of the house shortly before midnight on Tuesday. An altercation took place in which the victim was stabbed several times and gardaí believe the men may have fled on foot.

“From what we understand, a number of men were involved in an altercation with the deceased outside the front door of his house in Castlecurragh,” Supt John Quirke of Blanchardstown Garda station said yesterday.

“We have no leads as to motive at the moment . . . this investigation is still in its early stage,” he said.

It is understood that the victim’s girlfriend and son were in the house at the time of the stabbing but fled through the back of the house during the incident.

Mr Burnett received medical attention from paramedics at the scene. He was taken to Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown, where he was pronounced dead at about 1am yesterday.

Garda technical teams and detectives were yesterday examining a cordoned-off area outside the redbrick house. State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy carried out a postmortem on the man’s body yesterday.

Mr Burnett was originally from a nearby estate and yesterday friends placed flowers at the scene of his death.

“I just can’t believe that people would kill him,” his friend Pam Donoghue said. “Gerry was just a great guy, he was always happy. . . . I just couldn’t believe it because I know he was such a lovely guy, he wouldn’t hurt anybody.”

The couple “adored each other”, she told TV3 news.

There was shock and sadness among locals at the man’s death. Resident Leon Guilfoyle said there had been incidents in the vicinity before but people in the area were “absolutely shocked”.

Local Fine Gael councillor Kieran Dennison said he was “very concerned at the number of shooting and stabbing incidents” in the area over the past year. Locals would be concerned as there were lots of young children living in the estate, he said.

Gardaí have appealed for witnesses to the incident or anyone with information to contact them at Blanchardstown Garda station by telephoning 01-6667000. They particularly want to speak to anyone who was in the vicinity of Castlecurragh Vale between 11.30pm on Tuesday and 12.30am on Wednesday.