Man found dead may have been victim of earlier assault
The revelation came as detectives in Skibbereen awaited the outcome last night of a postmortem examination on the body of the man in his late 40s who was found dead at his rented terraced home in Skibbereen at 9am yesterday.
The deceased, who was originally from England, is understood to have moved to West Cork several years ago before settling in the West Cork town.
He had been living in a terraced house on High Street, very close to Skibbereen Garda Station, for at least a year.
Gardaí were working last night to officially confirm his identity and to notify relatives.
The alarm was raised at 9am yesterday by a person in the house, understood to be his partner, when she could not rouse him. Paramedics arrived but the man was pronounced dead at the scene and gardaí were alerted.
Amid concerns about the circumstances of his death, gardaí sealed off the house and requested the services of the state pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy, and the services of Garda forensic experts.
Dr Cassidy conducted a preliminary examination of the body at the scene yesterday afternoon.
The man’s remains were then removed to Cork University Hospital (CUH) where a postmortem examination was conducted last night to establish the exact cause of death, and whether the injuries he had sustained contributed to his death.
Gardaí said the results of the postmortem will determine the course of their investigation, and whether or not it will be upgraded to a murder investigation.
But it is understood detectives are investigating reports that the man was the victim of an alleged assault in the town on Sunday night.
The Irish Examiner has learned that the deceased, who had been socialising in the town on Sunday evening, was found in a distressed state around 10pm in a car park.
He had apparent injuries following an altercation, and was helped to his home by neighbours.
It is understood that they were satisfied the man was OK once they got him home.
Gardaí were conducting door-to-door inquiries in the locality yesterday and were also harvesting CCTV footage from local premises in a bid to trace the man’s last known movements.
A Garda spokesman appealed to anyone with information on his movements to contact Skibbereen Garda Station on 028-23088.
