German exchange student speaks of assisting victim of Samurai sword attack in Cobh
It is understood that Ian Baitson, a 32-year-old chef and father of one, was attacked with a Samurai sword in the car park of the Eurospar petrol station and shop on Cobh’s Newtown Road at around 8.55pm on Friday night.
A GERMAN exchange student has spoken of his experience of coming to the assistance of a man who was critically injured in an alleged stabbing incident in Cobh on Friday night, and subsequently passed away on Tuesday.
It is understood that Ian Baitson, a 32-year-old chef and father of one, was attacked with a Samurai sword in the car park of the Eurospar petrol station and shop on Cobh’s Newtown Road at around 8.55pm on Friday night.
Mr Baitson was brought to Cork University Hospital, where he was treated for several days. He was pronounced dead on Tuesday afternoon.
A postmortem examination of Mr Baitson’s remains was carried out today.
The garda spokesperson said the results would not be made public, for operational reasons.
However, those results will determine the course of the investigation, and it is expected to be upgraded to a murder probe.
Arian Hanitzch, who is an 18-year-old language exchange student in Coláiste Éamonn Rís secondary school, has spoken on local radio about his experience of coming on the scene of the incident on Friday night.
Mr Hanitzch has served as a volunteer firefighter in his native Cobh, and as a volunteer with Cobh Red Cross.
Speaking separately on Wednesday morning with PJ Coogan on the OpinionLine on Cork’s 96FM and Neil Prendeville on Cork’s Red FM, Mr Hanitzch said he had been one of the first on the scene when Mr Baitson was attacked.
Mr Hanitzch said he used a bystander’s belt to attempt a tourniquet, and he also administered CPR until the ambulance arrived on site.
He told Neil Prendeville that he had 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,” he said.
“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.”
Mr Hanitzch said his thoughts were with the loved ones of the deceased.
He also spoke on the OpinionLine on Cork’s 96FM, and host PJ Coogan spoke with principal of Colaiste Eaman Ris, Aaron Wolfe, who said he was very proud of the Leaving Cert student.
It is understood that gardaí are attempting to trace a man who may be relevant to the investigation, and a number of houses in Cobh were searched yesterday in a bid to locate him.
An incident room has been 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.
Gardaí are continuing to appeal for any witnesses to this incident to contact them.
In a statement, gardaí said: “Any road users who may have camera footage (including dash-cam) and were travelling on the Newtown Road between 8.45pm and 9.15pm 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.”
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