Gardaí were on Wednesday night continuing to question two truck drivers over a fatal attack on a man near a filling station in Fermoy, Co Cork.
Two Polish nationals, aged 43 and 29, were arrested by gardaí at about 4am Wednesday morning for questioning about the serious assault which led to the death of Ludovit Pastor, a 40-year-old Slovakian, in the truck stop at the Amber Filling Station on Dublin Road in Fermoy at about 10.30pm on Tuesday.
Mr Pastor died after receiving a single blow to the head with a metal bar when he and a Polish friend became involved in a row with two other men who had pulled into the truck stop for a rest.
It is understood Mr Pastor and his friend, who had been drinking in Fermoy earlier in the evening, confronted the truck drivers and words were exchanged before they left the scene. They went to the home of the Polish man and returned about 30 minutes later with the metal bar.
A fight broke out but they were disarmed and Mr Pastor suffered a single blow from the bar and collapsed. The emergency services arrived after the alarm was raised by a staff member at the filling station but Mr Pastor was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses
Mr Pastor’s friend received non-threatening injuries to his arms and legs.
Before being taken by ambulance to Cork University Hospital, he spoke to gardaí and pointed out the alleged attackers.
Gardaí initally questioned the men as witnesses before arresting them at 4am for questioning under section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act.
The 29-year-old man was taken to Fermoy Garda station and the 43-year-old man was taken to Mallow Garda station.
Both men were detained under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act which allows gardaí to hold suspects for up to 24 hours.
Gardaí were on Wednesday night continuing to question them as they sought to identify who struck the fatal blow which killed Mr Pastor.
Forensic examination
Gardaí cordoned off the scene of the assault and recovered a metal bar which has been sent for a forensic examination by Garda technical experts. They also secured CCTV footage from the filling station for examination.
Mr Pastor's body was examined at the scene Wednesday morning by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster who later carried out a full postmortem at Cork University Hospital. It confirmed that Mr Pastor died from blunt force trauma to the head.
Mr Pastor had come to Ireland in 2010 and had worked in Kepak Meats in Watergrasshill and later in Silver Pail Dairy in Fermoy but had left to become a carer for his wife who is seriously ill. The couple have two daughters, aged 15 and 11.
