Gardaí in Cork have arrested five men in an investigation into a feud between two families in which one man was attacked by a gang with baseball bats in a supermarket, and another man armed with a chainsaw made threats to cut off men’s limbs.
Detectives supported by teams from the local Armed Support Unit raided four houses in Knockanheeny, Ballvolane, Curraheen and Carrigaline at 7am today and arrested three members of one family and two members of the other.
The five, four men in their 20s and a teenager, were all arrested under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, which allows gardaí to detain suspects for up to 24 hours. The five suspects are being questioned at Gurranebraher, Mayfield and Togher Garda stations.
Gardaí say they are investigating a series of incidents in the feud, including the assault in the supermarket, a hand grenade being thrown at a house in Ballyvolane and a petrol bomb and other attacks on houses in Knocknaheeny, Curraheen, Carrigaline and Ballincollig.
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Officers seized a large quantity of weapons in Friday’s raids including baseball bats, slashhooks and pitchforks, and these will be forensically examined by Garda technical experts to establish whether they were used in any recent incidents, including the supermarket assault.
Both feuding factions have issued challenges to the other side posted online, including one faction member revving up a chainsaw in a car and threatening to cut off the limbs of members of the other side as he is driven around the city.
Gardaí say the feud has been going on for more than two years, flaring up for a time before a peace deal is agreed, only for some incident to spark it off again. It’s understood that last week, one side smashed windows at a house belonging to the other, sparking the most recent violence.
Earlier this week, local Cork North Central Sinn Féin TD, Thomas Gould, who grew up in Knocknaheeny and lives in nearby Gurranebraher, said gardaí were doing their best to try to bring those involved to justice, but a lack of Garda resources was hindering their work.
“There has been an ongoing issue with a number of families and gangs fighting each other over the last two years at different times – what happened in Supervalu in Hollyhill was shocking, seeing customers and staff absolutely terrified – it was absolutely horrendous.”
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