One man joined Joe Duffy on Liveline this afternoon to discuss the moment he was allegedly attacked near the RTE studios in Donnybrook by a cyclist.
'Mark' told the RTE host that he was attacked by a cyclist at 6:45am this morning whilst on a walk.
Gardai have confirmed they are investigating a report of an assault on a man that occurred at approximately 6:45am in the Nutley Lane area of Dublin 4.
Duffy described a photo of Mark following the incident for the audience, saying that he had “blood all over” his face, except for his chin.
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Recounting the horrific incident, Mark claimed that he was walking nearby the RTE studios on Nutley Lane in Donnybrook when a cyclist travelled towards him “at speed” on the footpath.
“Not only that, but he was looking at his mobile phone so he wasn’t even looking where he was going,” Mark said.
“As he approached me, I had very little time to do anything so I just put out my elbow to the side of me to protect myself and as he went past me, the end of my elbow hit the side of him but it wasn’t enough to knock me down or to move him off his bike.”
The cyclist travelled past Mark, but then stopped and came back shouting, he said.
Mark told how he explained to the cyclist that he had moved his elbow out in a bid to protect himself, and that he shouldn’t be cycling on the footpath.
“He started screaming at me saying did I want to fight and I said, ‘What?’”
“He raised his arms, clenched his fist and punched me in the face. I didn’t retaliate. I just raised my arms to protect my face.
“I took eight or nine punches to the face. I got knocked to the ground. While I was on the ground, I grabbed hold of one of his legs and he started screaming down at me to let go or he’d stomp on my face, on my head. So, I obviously let go.
“He then went back to his bicycle, got on and cycled off,” Mark said.
At the time of speaking on air, Mark hadn’t gone to the hospital but said that he probably would following the concern and advice of others.
Mark described the cyclist as a man in his 20s with a Dublin accent who was about 5’9 or 5’10 in height with broad shoulders and a “slightly stocky build”. The man had short brown hair and was wearing a light grey hoodie with dark blue workers' trousers and black boots.
A Garda spokesman said: "Gardai are investigating a report of an assault on a man that occurred at approximately 6:45am on Wednesday, 22nd June, 2022, in the Nutley Lane area of Dublin 4."
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