Gardaí have arrested a 32-year-old man for questioning about an aggravated burglary in Cork on Tuesday night, when a man in his 60s was attacked in his home and held prisoner.
The man threatened the homeowner, hitting him a number of times around the head and face and stabbing him in the leg, as he demanded that he hand over any cash.
Detectives arrested the suspect in the Gurranebraher area for questioning about the incident where the intruder forced his way into the house on Cathedral Road.
Neighbours heard the disturbance and went to the house where they were greeted at the front door by the intruder, who claimed to be a relative of the homeowner but neighbours continued to quiz him.
They spotted the homeowner in the house in a distressed state and bleeding but the intruder claimed that the homeowner had suffered his injuries in an accident before the neighbours alerted gardaí.
Intruder
Gardaí arrived on the scene but the intruder had fled and the injured man was taken by ambulance to Cork University Hospital, where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Gardaí began a search of the area and found the suspect a short distance away and arrested him under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, which allows gardaí detain suspects for up to 24 hours.
Garda technical experts have begun a forensic examination of the victim’s house for DNA and fingerprint evidence while they have also begun harvesting CCTV footage in the area to assist their investigation.
Gardaí have also begun door-to-door inquiries to establish if anyone saw anything suspicious in the Cathedral Road area in the run up to the aggravated burglary, which has shocked the local community.
Local Sinn Féin Cllr Thomas Gould paid tribute to the man's neighbours for their vigilance and quick reaction in alerting gardaí so that the culprit could be apprehended for questioning about the incident.
"A huge thanks to this man's neighbours who heard the attack and came to his aid without consideration for their own safety," said Cllr Gould in a Twitter posting.
