Neighbourhood in shock over brutal assault on builders
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Allison Bray
HORRIFIED neighbours yesterday expressed shock and disgust over the brutal, unprovoked attack on two young Polish builders at the weekend, which has left one dead and another clinging to life on a life-support machine.
The two builders, both aged 29, were set upon by the group of teenage thugs following an altercation outside a chip shop on the Benbulbin Road in Drimnagh, Dublin, early on Saturday evening.
It is understood one boy ran to his home at a nearby estate to get a screwdriver which he then plunged into the back of the victim's head causing serious brain injuries. He used the same screwdriver to stab the other victim in the throat.
Both men were rushed to St James's Hospital where they were placed on life-support machines. One of the victims died of his injuries yesterday afternoon.
A Drimnagh man named Tony, who identified himself as the owner of a rented house near Benbulbin Road where the two victims shared a house with three other Polish nationals, said he was sickened by what happened to the two builders, whom he described as "absolute gentlemen".
The young men had been renting the house for the past nine months and were ideal tenants who got along well with everyone in the area, he said.
"I couldn't say one bad word about them," he told Joe Duffy on his 'Liveline' programme on RTE radio yesterday.
Another listener named Mary, who also lives in the area, said the "neighbourhood has been held to ransom by a gang of teenage tearaways".
Up to 50 boys and girls converge outside a chip shop in the area and harass people. "Their parents just don't seem to care where they are," she said, adding, "they're all carrying weapons."
Jane, who has lived in the area for 45 years, said she was horrified by the ferociousness of the attack. She said she saw the two men lying on the ground and a frantic young woman screaming for help. "I've never seen anything like it," she added.
