Two Donegal gardaí stationed in Dundalk have been honoured with Scott Medal 1st Class Commendations for acts of personal bravery.
Garda Damien Welby from Donegal Town and Garda Alan Lynch, originally from Malin, were presented with certificates last week by Deputy Commissioner Shawna Coxon.
The pair received the honour for their bravery, courage and resolve in arresting an armed suspect who had fatally stabbed Yosuke Sasaki on a public street in Dundalk in January 2018. The suspect was Egyptian native Mohamed Morei, who had paranoid schizophrenia.
At 9am on 3rd January 2018 Gardaí received a report that a 24 year old male was after being fatally stabbed on Long Avenue, Dundalk by another male. This was a totally unprovoked attack and it was reported that he had been stabbed in the back without any prior interaction.
At 9.30am, an identical stabbing of another male, 23 years old, occurred on the Inner Relief Road, Dundalk. This male was stabbed in the upper back and his injuries were not fatal. As with the earlier incident on Long Avenue Road, this attack was totally unprovoked.
At 9.40am, a third male, 23 years old, was struck with a wooden post on Quay Street, Dundalk. He sustained an injury to his head as a result in this third unprovoked assault.
It appeared that all three random attacks had been carried out by the same person and a description of the suspect was circulated to all Garda Units in Dundalk.
Garda Damien Welby subsequently observed the suspect on the Inner Relief Road, Dundalk. He was carrying a wooden post and was suspected to be carrying a weapon. Garda Alan Lynch also arrived at the Inner Relief Road to Garda Welby.
The suspect was highly aggressive and agitated towards both Gardaí who were now out of their vehicles and engaging with him. Both then managed to restrain him and he was subsequently disarmed at this location and arrested in relation to the murder of the 24 year old male on Long Avenue, Dundalk.
The suspect was subsequently charged in respect of all offences committed during the morning of the 03.01.2018 and the cases were concluded before the Courts. Morei was found not guilty of Yosuke Sasaki’s murder by reason of insanity by a jury at the Central Criminal Court in December 2019. Mohamed Morei remains in detention under S.5 (2) of the Criminal Law Insanity Act at the Central Mental Hospital, Dundrum.
