A woman who was set on fire at her Dublin home had recently been the subject of what gardaí believe was drug related intimidation.
The woman, who is aged in her 40s, remains in a critical condition after an assailant sprayed flammable liquid over her and set it alight on the doorstep of her home in Clondalkin.
She suffered serious injuries to her face and body in the incident which occurred at Oak Downs just after 10am on Tuesday. Gardaí believe the attacker fled on an electric bicycle.
A man, also aged in his 40s and believed to be the woman’s partner, suffered non-life threatening burn injuries as he tried to extinguish the flames.
Investigators have expressed shock at the brutality of the attack. Drug-related violence and intimidation is common in Dublin but rarely do they involve such a level of violence.
One Garda source compared it to “cartel tactics” in reference to violent Mexican criminal groups who often set their victims on fire.
Gardaí are still trying to establish a motive for the attack but believe it is likely linked to the drugs trade in the local area.
The woman’s partner is known to gardaí and has several previous convictions for theft. However, he is not considered a major figure in the drugs trade.
One line of investigation is the house was targeted over a drugs debt. Gardaí believe the woman’s partner was likely the primary target of Tuesday’s attack.
There had been several previous incidents at the home involving intimidation which gardaí believe was primarily aimed at the woman’s partner.
As recently as Monday afternoon, gardaí were called to the house after reports of masked men outside. However, the occupants did not make a statement.
Work is ongoing to trace the attacker’s route to and from the house. A large amount of CCTV footage has already been gathered.
Sinn Féin councillor for the Clondalkin area William Carey described the incident as “depraved”.
As a lot of thought and planning had gone into such an attack, it was essentially “attempted murder”, he told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland.
People in the area were “angry, annoyed and shocked” at the level of violence involved, he added.
“It was a quiet morning in the area, nobody expected anything like this to be happening in our area. It’s quite an idyllic type of estate, a lot of private homeowners, a lot of hardworking people and to have this happening on the doorstep is completely shocking.
“The sense of depravity involved in this attack is quite frightening and it has people doubly shocked at the level of violence because this is not the type of thing we would expect in the area here.”
Cllr Carey, who is also chairman of the Oak Downs residents’ association, urged anybody who had information about the attack to contact gardaí.
“I wouldn’t say this would be an issue that we would expect to see or hear within the area. It’s not a big crime area.
“Recently at our residents’ association meeting we had the local community garda in attendance, and he described incidents that are occurring in the area as very low key.”
Cllr Carey said he lived less than 150m from the house where the attack happened and he was concerned that at the time the local creche had been bringing children to a park “and this is what they almost passed.”
Anyone who was in the Oak Downs area of Clondalkin between 9.30am and 10.20am on Tuesday and who may have video footage, including from a dashcam, is asked to contact gardaí.
