DETECTIVES HAVE begun examining CCTV footage in the hope of identifying the person responsible for an arson attack on the home of a woman in Cork who was rescued from her smoke-filled house by gardaí.
May O’Gorman (87) was pulled from her bed by Garda John O’Sullivan and Reserve Garda Peter Clifford. They had responded to an emergency call and went to her house at Murrough’s Lane off Blarney Street on the north side of the city early yesterday morning.
A neighbour spotted smoke coming from the single-storey house just 30 yards off Blarney Street at about 5am. He called the emergency services with gardaí from nearby Gurranebraher Garda station being the first to arrive on the scene.
The two gardaí kicked in the door of the house and went to the front bedroom where they found Ms O’Gorman in bed. They managed to get her out of the house and she was taken to the Mercy University Hospital.
Ms O’Gorman and the two gardaí were treated for smoke inhalation at the hospital, with the gardaí being discharged yesterday morning.
Ms O’Gorman, who has lived on Murrough’s Lane for 50 years, was discharged yesterday afternoon. According to her son-in- law, Noel Woods, she was making a good recovery at their house on Blarney Street.
Garda Supt Con Cadogan of Gurranebraher Garda station, who is leading the investigation, said that but, for the action of the two gardaí in breaking down the door and rescuing Ms O’Gorman, they might have found themselves dealing with a fatality.
Garda Supt Cadogan said a forensic examination had found evidence of an accelerant having been poured through Ms O’Gorman’s letterbox and set alight. They were treating the fire as arson.
Gardaí believe Ms O’Gorman was attacked by mistake and that those responsible had targeted the wrong house. Garda inquiries were continuing yesterday to try and establish if anyone living on the quiet lane may have been the intended target.
A narrow lane running from Blarney Street down to the Rock Steps at the back of the North Mall, Murrough’s Lane was fitted in recent years with seven-foot high gates at both ends to stop people engaging in anti-social behaviour and drinking on the laneway.
Gardaí believe that whoever was responsible for the fire must have been fit and agile to climb over the gates.
Last night they appealed for information on a man wearing a black beanie hat, brown jacket and jeans, who was seen in the area at the time.
Anyone with any information or who saw any suspicious activity in the Blarney Street area in the hours before the attack is asked to contact Gurranebraher Garda station on 021-494 6200.
