A Spanish man was stabbed by his Limerick neighbours because he asked them to keep the noise down.
The 31-year-old was attacked when he called to the door of his neighbour's apartment on Steamboat Quay in Limerick, last Monday morning.
The victim was returning home from a night out with his flatmates when they heard very loud noise coming from a neighbouring apartment shortly after 3 a.m.
"The noise was really bad so he rang the gardaí and asked them to come down. The noise was so bad, some of the people living in the apartment were even afraid to go up for a while," a friend of the victim said.
"After waiting for ages for the gardaí, he went up and knocked on their door to ask them to keep it down," he said.
"Two young guys and a girl answered the door with kitchen knives in their hands. They then stabbed him in his arms and upper body and he cut both his hands to the bone trying to defend himself. He also got a black eye after they punched him in the face," he added.
The victim travelled by taxi to Limerick Regional Hospital where he received nine stitches and was treated for his wounds.
"He's absolutely terrified and so are his flatmates. It's bad enough being stabbed, but knowing that the people who did it live beside you is really frightening. He won't stay in the apartment and all of his flatmates are staying with friends," said the victim's friend.
"He's also very disappointed in the gardaí because if they had come earlier then this might not have happened."
However, gardaí have denied claims that it took them a long time to get to the scene.
"Gardaí reacted promptly to the call and spoke to all the people involved with the incident," said a spokesman. "A full investigation is underway at Henry Street Garda Station," he added.
A man who was stabbed in Limerick on the same day is recovering from his injuries in Cork University Hospital. The man, who was in his 20s, was knocked down by a vehicle driven by his attackers and stabbed 10 times in the lower body.