Gardaí question suspect about attack on couple
A MAN is due to appear in court in connection with this week’s stabbing attack in Drogheda which left a man dead and a woman seriously injured.
The suspect in the case was being questioned by gardaí last night after surrendering himself to gardaí in Drogheda. The double stabbing took place at the Fitzwilliam Court apartment block on Dyer Street, Drogheda, just after 2pm on Thursday.
A 39-year-old woman and 32-year-old man with whom she had recently begun a relationship were stabbed in an apartment in the complex.
Gardaí are treating the double stabbing as a domestic incident. Paramedics treated the two injured people at the scene. They were taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. The man was was transferred to St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin.
However, he died from abdominal wounds in the early hours of yesterday morning.
He was named as Muhammad Arif, who was from Pakistan and had been living in Ireland for almost a decade.
He had most recently worked as a security guard in the Tesco store in Drogheda.
The injured woman is also from Pakistan but had been living and working in Ireland for some time. She is still in hospital in Drogheda.
She was stabbed in the upper body, but her injuries are not life-threatening.The main line of investigation is that the attacker may have been unhappy about the developing relationship between the deceased man and injured woman.
The suspect surrendered to gardaí in Drogheda late on Thursday night and was arrested under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.
He was detained at the local Garda station overnight and was questioned about the attack throughout yesterday.
His period of detention was suspended last night to allow him to sleep at the Garda station and it was due to resume this morning.
Garda sources said the suspect may appear in court as early as today to face charges in relation to the attack.
The scene of the stabbing was sealed off on Thursday afternoon and underwent a forensic examination yesterday by members of the Garda Technical Bureau.
Gardaí also conducted extensive house-to-house inquiries in the area where the attack took place.
Detectives will interview the injured women when she is well enough to speak to them.
A postmortem was being conducted on the dead man’s remains last night and was expected to conclude he died of stab wounds to the abdomen.