Gardaí speak to man who was set on fire in Cork attack

Gardaí investigating a petrol attack on a 23-year-old father of three in Cork city have spoken to the man and hope to take a formal statement from him in the coming days.

Keith Greaney suffered what have been described as "life changing injuries" when he was attacked by three men at the home he shared with his girlfriend Nicole O'Leary in Dunard, Lotamore, Mayfield last Monday.

Mr Greaney was with Ms O’Leary when three men burst into the house just before 4am. The men dragged Mr Greaney from his bed and beat him with an exhaust pipe before attacking him with a machete.

The gang then doused Mr Greaney in petrol and set him on fire before smashing the windscreen of his car as they fled the scene in a black Ford Mondeo and a Citroen Berlingo van, which gardaí later seized on the southside of Cork.

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Mr Greaney was rushed by ambulance to Cork University Hospital (CUH) where he was put in an induced coma on a ventilator. He was treated him for serious burns to his head and chest following the petrol attack.

Mr Greaney came out of the induced coma on Wednesday evening and gardaí spoke to him briefly before he was again put in an induced coma to help with the healing process.

Two men, brothers aged 27 and 24 from the southside of the city, presented themselves at Mayfield Garda station on Tuesday and were questioned about the attack on Mr Greaney.

The two men were not arrested but it is understood that gardaí obtained clothing and footwear from them, which has since been sent to the Forensic Science Ireland laboratory in Dublin for a technical examination.

Gardaí have also forwarded a machete and a car exhaust pipe which they believe were used in the attack on Mr Greaney to the Forensic Science Ireland laboratory to verify if they were used in the attack.

Meanwhile officers are continuing to look for a third suspect and while they are keeping an open mind, they believe it stems from a personal dispute between the victim and another young man.

Tensions

Elsewhere in Cork, armed members of the Regional Support Unit (RSU) visited two halting sites in the city on Thursday night and spoke to two groups of men amid simmering tensions over a separate and unrelated assault in the city.

A young man was attacked by a group of up to 10 people outside the Reel Picture cinema in Blackpool on Sunday night and received a number of blows to the head from one of the group armed with a hurley.

Gardaí believe the assault is but the latest incident in a long standing feud between two extended families and have begun an investigation even though they have yet to receive a formal complaint from the injured man.

On Thursday, the RSU visited both halting sites and spoke to both sides after the rival families posted videos online within hours of each other when masked men armed with machetes and other implements issued threats to each other.