Gardai are set to crack down on teenagers who appear to be randomly attacking youths and posting the footage on TikTok and other social media platforms.
Since late December, a large group of young people have been assaulting people in the Cabra area of Dublin. The attacks have been escalating in recent weeks, according to locals.
One incident is understood to have led to a boy being put into an induced coma after an attack left him with serious head injuries, while another reportedly saw a teenager stabbed in the head with a screwdriver.
Sinn Fein’s Sean McGrattan, a member of Cabra’s Local Policing Committee, told The Journal there had been several “serious assaults”.
He said: “I know of a number of people who have ended up in hospital. There was one case in which a teenage boy was in a coma for three or four days. Another lad ended up in Beaumont Hospital with very serious head injuries.”
Gardai have responded to the matter by sending around a leaflet in the Cabra area warning the public about the attacks and the footage being uploaded to social media.
The incidents have been carried out over a number of weeks, and there have been reports of rival gangs forming to retaliate against the original group of youths.
Mr McGrattan told The Journal that social media is being used to organise the attacks and that some groups have been using the Luas to travel.
Gardai recently intercepted one large group at the Broombridge Luas stop.
“There are children as young as nine years of age who were there. There were about 50 or 60 of them there. Luckily, the gardai were able to intercept these lads before they were able to cause any trouble,” McGrattan said.
Officers also stopped an incident in January where some of the youths present were found to be carrying baseball bats and pitchforks.
Gardai are aware of the trend, and representatives of three stations that police different areas of Cabra and its environs met to discuss the issue last week.
Investigators have contacted local schools and have given talks about the dangers of these incidents.
A Garda spokesperson told The Irish Mirror: "Gardai in Cabra are aware of a number of public order incidents which are subsequently been posted on various social media platforms. Gardai are investigating these incidents in collaboration with other Garda districts within this catchment area.
"Cabra gardai, together with all the other relevant agencies will continue to proactively engage with Cabra Youth to reduce such incidents."
