Kilcullen youth attacked in Naas
A Kilcullen teenager was the victim of an unprovoked attack in Naas last week, writes Brian Byrne.
He was waiting for his father to collect him on Wednesday night, when he was punched in the eye by one of a group of older young men, outside Swan Dowling's pub on the Newbridge Road.
The victim had been at a disco in the Time Night Club at the Osprey Hotel. When he came out with friends to be brought home by parents of the group, it was found that the cars couldn't legally accommodate everyone.
"I called my father and he said he'd come to collect me," the victim of the attack, who prefers to remain anonymous, told the Diary. "The father of one of the group said he would wait with me, and we walked up to the main road rather than wait at the hotel."
According to the Kilcullen teenager, a young man roughly brushed past them as they waited on the footpath outside the pub. Then that person called out something over their heads as a group of young people came around the corner. As they passed, without warning one of them punched the Kilcullen youth in the face, and also turned on the accompanying parent despite the fact that he was a big man.
"He was on something, more than the drink that he clearly had been taking," the victim says.
Shocked after the attack, for which some of the assailant's companions apologised, the Kilcullen teenager and the accompanying parent went back to the Osprey for safety, after calling the Garda.
"They followed us back, and when we got to the hotel there was an incident involving them and the security there," the Kilcullen youngster says. His father then arrived and brought them both home.
The young man attended Naas Hospital the next morning.The Diary understands that there were a number of anti-social incidents in the area on the same night, with one suggestion that involved a broken leg. This hasn't been confirmed. There is also a report that when the Garda car came to the hotel, they were informed that nothing untoward had taken place.
A query from the Diary to the Garda Press Office on the matter, asking if the incident had been recorded on the 'Pulse' computer system, has remained unanswered at the time of posting (Monday evening).
