Children watch horrific meat cleaver attack on city street

THESE were the chaotic scenes in south Dublin when three innocent people were injured in a bloody meat cleaver attack.

Terrified children watched in horror as the violent row spread out onto the street in the Ard Mor estate in Citywest just after 11.30am yesterday.

The windows of a car were smashed up before three garda patrol cars and two ambulances rushed to the scene.

Our exclusive photos show the injuries caused to local man Alan Hewitt when he was stabbed in the head, hand and under his arm during the horrific incident.

Also pictured in the aftermath of the horror attack is his girlfriend Tanya Carlyle.

Ms Carlyle was slashed in the breast and the face during the frenzied incident.

A third man -- Andrew Doyle -- who is a close friend of the couple also required hospital attention after he was stabbed in the head during the bloodbath brawl.

All of the victims are understood to be aged in their 30s and all had been released from Tallaght Hospital last night.

A senior source told the Herald that the meat cleaver attacker who was aged in his 50s had given gardai a voluntary statement but no arrests had been made.

It's understood that he was also injured in the melee and it is believed that he has said that a knife was pulled on him during the course of the row.

He also reportedly suffered superficial injuries in the violent melee which began when he called to the house in Ard Mor Lawn.

A female friend of his owns a property here and the two called in relation to unpaid rent and other matters.

The man was not previously known to gardai and is from the Crumlin area.

Sources say that when the man entered the house "a major verbal row broke out" and this led to an alleged assault before the meat cleaver and a knife were produced.

It is understood that the man who was armed with the meat cleaver struck another man who then produced a knife.

The fracas then spread out onto the street where a female friend of the man who had the meat cleaver was assaulted before the windows of his car were smashed.

SOURCE-IRISHNEWS