“I genuinely thought I would never see my son’s face again”
A father of one was allegedly attacked in broad daylight in Longford town, in front of his “terrified” 12-year-old son.
Francis Gavin (34) says he was walking down Ballymahon Street at around 2pm on April 28th when the alleged suspects jumped out of a car and assaulted him.
Describing the attack to Independent.ie, Francis said: “Two of them were women and one had a Lucozade bottle in her hand. The man came out swinging boxes and I just told my son to run.
“He ran for his life into EuroGiant and the three of them started attacking me. I was kicked around 15 to 20 times on the ground.
“I remember him falling and I think his legs went dead from kicking me. I genuinely thought I would never see my son’s face again.”
Francis, by his own admission, has previously been in court himself for shoplifting and driving offences.
He describes the attack as unprovoked, saying: “This was about bullying and trying to take control. This gang want to take control of Longford and want it to themselves.”
Although physically ok, he says he is now scared to walk through the town and that his son won’t come to Longford to visit him. “My son has not come down since. He is terrified and is in Dublin with his mother. I said to him: ‘Are you coming down?’ All he said back to me was: ‘No I won’t daddy, I am too afraid to.’”
Gardai have confirmed that three people — a woman in her fifties, one in her 20s and a man in his 30s — have been arrested in connection with the incident, but were released without charge.
