A man has been arrested in connection with the murder of father of two Ian Baitson, who died in hospital earlier this week from injuries he sustained after he was attacked with a samurai sword in Cobh, Co Cork on March 15th.
The man, who is in his thirties, is being detained at a garda station in Cork under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.
The assault on Mr Baitson occurred shortly before 9pm last Friday in the Eurospar car-park on the Newtown Road in Cobh.
He was taken to Cork University Hospital for treatment. However, he was pronounced dead on Tuesday afternoon. He had sustained significant blood loss in the attack.
An incident room was established at Cobh Garda Station, and a Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) is leading the investigation.A Family Liaison Officer has also been appointed to keep the family of the deceased updated.
Meanwhile, funeral arrangements for the 33 year old deceased will be finalised on Monday. Mr Baitson is survived by his children Zoe and Myles, his mother Helen and his brother Richard.
He was predeceased by his father Paul.
His loved ones said in a funeral notice that he will “sadly missed” by his family and a “wide circle of friends.” Mr Baitson trained as a chef and worked in a number of restaurants and hotels over the years.
Meanwhile, a Leaving Certificate student who attempted to save the life of Mr Baitson has said that his thoughts are with the loved ones of the deceased.
Arian Hanitzsch, an 18-year-old German exchange student was one of the first on the scene when Mr Baitson was attacked. The Colaiste Eamon Ris student, who is a trained first aider, used the skills he learned in his native country and with the Cobh Red Cross to assist Ian.
Arian used a bystanders belt to attempt a tourniquet, as well as administering CPR until the ambulance arrived on site. He told the Neil Prendeville show on Cork’s Red FM that the incident had left him shaken.
"I suppose it was pretty hard for me that first night, the nights are very short and you think about very much. My thoughts and my prayers are with Ian and his family cause like, what they're going through is like lol so much worse than what I was going through. And that's why it is like so important that everyone thinks of them and I have my thoughts and prayers are with them."
Arian said he reacted instinctively when he heard that a person needed assistance.
“I didn’t see what happened but there was another guy who saw it, I was standing next to the entrance and he ran in screaming ‘there’s a man down’ and then I ran out to help him.
“I ran outside and I saw a man laying down there, there was no reaction or nothing anymore. There was another guy and we worked together as a good team, we called the ambulance and everything and sorted out that we could help him very fast and very quickly.”
Arian has called on members of the public to learn first aid.
“At this stage, I want to see people learn first aid, in my opinion, it’s very important that students - and also adults - learn first aid. If I’d never heard about it before I wouldn’t have been able to help him. Everyone should learn CPR, how to bandage someone and how to organise situations like this.”
Gardaí are continuing to appeal for any witnesses to this incident to come forward.
Any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were travelling on the Newtown Road between 8:45pm and 9:15pm on March 15th are asked to make this footage available to Gardaí.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Cobh Garda Station on 021 490 8530, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station.
