A 51-year-old woman is in hospital with serious injuries but is expected to survive, after she was stabbed at her home in north Cork on Christmas Day. Gardaí hope to be given permission by doctors in the coming days to speak to the woman, according to The Irish Times, following the incident at her home in Banteer. The woman was at home with her son, daughter–in-law and a man known to her when a row broke out shortly after 4pm. It is understood that she left the house, only for the man to follow her and attack her by stabbing her several times in the chest. The woman’s daughter-in-law called the emergency services and an off-duty paramedic, who was visiting relatives in the area, heard the message on his radio. It is understood he attended the scene and helped stabilise the woman until on-duty colleagues arrived.

Search operation

The woman was taken by ambulance to Cork University Hospital where she underwent surgery for multiple stable wounds to the chest. Although her condition was initially described as critical, Garda sources indicate that the woman is expected to survive the attack. Meanwhile, gardaí from Mallow and Kanturk arrived at the scene of the attack where they learned that the suspect had left the house and was armed. A search operation involving up to 30 gardaí was launched, with assistance requested from the Armed Support Unit and the Defence Forces. The 57-year-old suspect was located by members of the ASU approximately 400 metres from the house and was taken by ambulance to CUH where he also underwent emergency surgery for his injuries, described as serious. He was not arrested but he remains under guard from members of the ASU deployed to monitor him at CUH.