Gardaí in Cork are examining CCTV footage in a bid to identify members of a gang who attacked two teenagers, stabbing one youth in the kidneys and battering the other over the head with a bar at the weekend.
Gardaí believe the two victims had innocently stumbled upon the gang of around 25 teenagers in the Wilton Court area of the city's southside at around 6pm on Saturday when they were viciously set upon in an unprovoked attack.
One of the victims, a 15-year-old boy, suffered a stab wound to the kidneys while the other boy, a 16-year-old, was battered around the head by one of the gang armed with either an iron bar or a baseball bat.
“The two victims were completely innocent in all of this. There was no apparent reason for this attack.
“These two boys just happened to walk straight into this gang. They just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said a Garda spokesman.
The two boys, who were taking a shortcut home through the Wilton Court estate, managed to make their way to the home of a friend nearby and an adult at the house drove to them to the Emergency Department at the nearby Cork University Hospital.
One boy underwent surgery for stab wound to his abdomen which pierced his kidney and the other was treated for cuts and bruises to his head.
Gardaí hope to be given permission by doctors to speak to them formally over the coming days to take statements from them.
Gardaí are trying to establish if the gang, who were all in their late teens and included a number of girls, may have been from some other part of Cork city.
They are trying to establish what prompted them to venture to the Wilton and Bishopstown area armed with bats and knives.
Gardaí have appealed to anyone who saw members of this gang in the Wilton, Sarsfield Rd, Doughcloyne, or Togher areas between 5pm and 7pm on Saturday to contact gardaí at either Togher Garda Station on 021-494 7120 or Bishopstown Garda Station on 021-462 4500.
