A 47-year old man has appeared before Dundalk District Court in relation to an incident in Glenwood last Friday when three women were injured after being attacked by a man wielding a hatchet. Patricia ‘Pat’ Muckian (81) suffered severe head trauma, while her sister-in-law Mairead and niece Maria were also injured when a man well-known to the three carried out the attack on Friday afternoon.
The three women were enjoying tea and cake to celebrate Mairead Muckian’s 75th birthday in the kitchen of her home in the Glenwood estate in Dundalk. Pat, who was chairperson of Dundalk Credit Union until 2013, is currently up in Beaumont Hospital where she is listed as critical. Mairead and her daughter Marie were treated for less serious injuries in the nearby Louth Hospital on the Dublin Road in Dundalk.
The women’s attacker was arrested at the scene and was being detained at a Garda station in Co Louth under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 where he stayed until being brought to Dundalk District Court on Wednesday morning.
47 year old Nicholas Muckian with an address at Glenwood, Dundalk, is charged with three counts of assault causing harm on Friday May 3rd. It was stated in court that the alleged victims are in their 80s, 70s and 40s.
Mr Muckian is further charged with unlawfully intimidating another person with a hatchet at the same location on the same date.
Gardai told Dundalk District Court that they were objecting to bail. No application for bail was made by Nicholas Muckian’s defence solicitor.
Judge Eirinn McKiernan remanded Mr Muckian in custody to appear again on 15 May.
She also directed that he receive urgent medical attention and assessment.
In a statement last Friday, Gardaí said: “Gardaí in Dundalk were alerted to an incident at a residential property in Glenwood Estate, Dundalk on the afternoon of Friday, May 3.
“Three women were injured and two were removed to Louth County Hospital, Dundalk for treatment and one woman was taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda with serious injuries.
“A man was arrested at the scene and is currently detained at a Garda station in County Louth under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. “Investigations are ongoing.”
