Four due in court after garda probe into athlone attacks

Four youths will appear in Mullingar District Court tomorrow (Friday) in connection with the Garda investigation into two horrific attacks on elderly men in Athlone on Tuesday last.

Garda this evening charged four males, aged 15, 16, 17 and 18, in connection with the incidents. It’s understood one of the defendants faces charges connected with both incidents.

The court appearances comes after a taxi driver was attacked and stabbed in Coosan in the early hours of Tuesday morning, and an elderly shopkeeper was assaulted at a shop on the Ballymahon Road later that evening.

Three youths were detained on Wednesday but one was later released without charge in relation to the incidents. However, he has been charged with unrelated offences, according to Gardaí.

Two further youths were arrested today, meaning four were being questioned today.

Three of the detained quarter were being questioned in relation to the brutal assault of a shopkeeper at the The Cova Shop around 5.45pm on Tuesday evening.

Three youths armed with a firearm and an iron bar entered the shop and threatened the shopkeeper, a man in his 70s, before hitting him over the head several times. They later left the scene on foot empty handed.

The injured man was later taken to Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, where he was treated for head injuries. He was later discharged.

The fourth person who was in detention was being questioned in relation to the assault on an elderly taxi driver in the early hours of Tuesday morning in Coosan.

At approximately 1.30am a male taxi driver in his 70s picked up two males at Church Street, Athlone and drove to Bloomfield Drive in Coosan where he was threatened and assaulted by his passengers.

He sustained a number of stab wounds during the incident. The two males fled scene on foot with a small amount of cash. The injured man was later taken to Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe and has since been released.