Man dies in Garda custody after being suspected of stabbing man who died after jumping into Liffey
Thomas Griffin, a man aged 31 (reports differ: 32) from Ballyfermot, Dublin, was slashed in the face and body in an alleged knife attack at the War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge at around 10pm on Saturday 30 May 2026, after which he jumped into the River Liffey to escape and swam across to lands near Chapelizod Road before losing consciousness and dying at St James' Hospital on Sunday 31 May. Lee McDonnell, a man aged 34 from Ballyfermot, was arrested for breaches of bail conditions and became unresponsive in a Dublin Garda station on Saturday, later dying; his death is being investigated by Fiosrú. Gardaí suspect McDonnell slashed Griffin, but no decision on a charge had been made by the time he died, and Griffin's death is not being treated as murder, with Gardaí pursuing the attackers for alleged assault. A postmortem has been ordered on Griffin and Gardaí are appealing for witnesses and camera or dashcam footage from the area between 9pm and 10.45pm on Saturday 30 May.
- Reported1 Jun
5 reports - Arrested
- Charged
- In court
- Verdict
- Sentenced
Key facts
consolidated from all reports- What happened
- Thomas Griffin, 31 (reports differ: 32), was slashed in the face and body in an alleged knife attack at the War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge, Dublin, at around 10pm on Saturday 30 May 2026.
- Griffin jumped into the River Liffey to escape his attacker, swam across to lands adjacent to Chapelizod Road, lost consciousness, and was taken to St James' Hospital where he died on Sunday 31 May 2026.
- Lee McDonnell, 34, was arrested for breaches of bail conditions and became unresponsive in a Dublin Garda station on Saturday, later dying; his death is being investigated by Fiosrú.
- Gardaí suspect McDonnell slashed Griffin, but no decision on a charge had been made by the time McDonnell died.
- Griffin's death is not being treated as murder; Gardaí are pursuing the attackers for alleged assault.
- Where
- The alleged attack took place at the War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge, Dublin, and Griffin was found by the Liffey near Chapelizod Road.
- When
- The incident occurred at approximately 10.20pm on Saturday 30 May 2026, and Griffin died at St James' Hospital on Sunday 31 May 2026.
- Investigation
- A postmortem has been ordered on Griffin, and Gardaí are probing whether he died from his injuries or another medical cause.
- Gardaí are appealing for witnesses and camera or dashcam footage from the area between 9pm and 10.45pm on Saturday 30 May 2026.
- Other details
- McDonnell had a criminal record including more than 100 convictions, was a suspect in the 2022 gangland murder of Gary Carey, and escaped from custody in 2015 while serving a nine-year sentence for aggravated burglary.
- Griffin was the brother of James Griffin, who was stabbed to death aged 26 in Ballyfermot in November 2014.
- Griffin was a boxer who trained at St Matthews Boxing Club in Ballyfermot.
62 statements extracted from the articles
- whatThe man was aged in his 30s (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe man swam across the River Liffey to lands adjacent to Chapelizod Road (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe man was treated at the scene before being taken to hospital (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe cause of death is not clear (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe man who died after jumping into the Liffey was attempting to get away from an attacker who had stabbed him. (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe victim was named as Thomas Griffin, 31, from Ballyfermot, Dublin. (irishtimes.com)
- whatGriffin sustained a number of wounds in a knife attack amid assaults and public order incidents in the area. (irishtimes.com)
- whatGriffin jumped into the Liffey to get to safety and managed to swim the width of the river. (irishtimes.com)
- whatGriffin was slashed in the face and on his body during the alleged attack (irishmirror.ie)
- whatThe male swam across the River Liffey to lands adjacent to Chapelizod Road (irishmirror.ie)
- whatThomas Griffin, 32, was slashed in the face and on his body in a suspected attack. (irishmirror.ie)
- whatThomas Griffin tried to escape his attackers by entering the River Liffey. (irishmirror.ie)
- whatHe swam in the direction of Chapelizod Road before succumbing to his injuries by the riverside. (irishmirror.ie)
- whatHe was taken to St James' Hospital where he was declared dead. (irishmirror.ie)
- whatLee McDonnell was arrested for breaches of bail conditions (irishtimes.com)
- whatMcDonnell became unresponsive in a Dublin Garda station on Saturday and later died (irishtimes.com)
- whatGardaí suspect McDonnell slashed Thomas Griffin at the War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge on 30 May (irishtimes.com)
- whatGriffin jumped into the Liffey and swam across to escape his attacker (irishtimes.com)
- whatGriffin got to the other side near Chapelizod Road and lost consciousness (irishtimes.com)
- whatGriffin is not believed to have died from the knife injuries (irishtimes.com)
- whatGriffin's death is not being treated as murder (irishtimes.com)
- whatMcDonnell had a criminal record that included more than 100 convictions (irishtimes.com)
- whatMcDonnell was a suspect in the gangland murder of Gary Carey in 2022 (irishtimes.com)
- whatGary Carey was shot multiple times in the car park of the Hilton Hotel in Kilmainham, Dublin 8, on 24 June 2022 (irishtimes.com)
- whatCarey spent six weeks critically ill in hospital before dying (irishtimes.com)
- whatTwo men chased Carey through the hotel car park (irishtimes.com)
- whatGardaí believe McDonnell was one of the gunmen in the Carey murder (irishtimes.com)
- whatNo decision on a charge had been made by the time McDonnell died (irishtimes.com)
- whatIn 2015, McDonnell escaped from custody while serving a nine-year sentence for aggravated burglary (irishtimes.com)
- whatIn the burglary he broke into a house, beat a man with the butt of a replica gun and took his car (irishtimes.com)
- whatHe robbed a petrol station using the stolen car and beat the shopkeeper with the replica gun (irishtimes.com)
- whatMcDonnell slipped out of his handcuffs, opened the prison van door through a window, and fled (irishtimes.com)
- whereHe was found injured by the Liffey following an alleged attack at the War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge, Dublin (irishmirror.ie)
- whereThe attack took place at the War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge, Dublin. (irishmirror.ie)
- whenThe incident occurred on Saturday night (irishtimes.com)
- whenThe alleged assault took place at approximately 10.20pm (irishtimes.com)
- whenThe alleged attack occurred at around 10pm on Saturday night, 30 May 2026 (irishmirror.ie)
- whenHe passed away at St James' Hospital on Sunday 31st May 2026 (irishmirror.ie)
- whenThe attack occurred at around 10pm on Saturday 30 May 2026. (irishmirror.ie)
- investigationA postmortem has been ordered (irishtimes.com)
- investigationGardaí are looking for camera or dashcam footage from 9pm to 10.45pm on Saturday (irishtimes.com)
- investigationAnyone with information is asked to contact Clondalkin Garda station (irishtimes.com)
- investigationGardaí sealed off an area around War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge and on Chapelizod Road as part of the inquiry. (irishtimes.com)
- investigationAn investigation team under a senior investigating officer was established at Clondalkin station. (irishtimes.com)
- investigationGardaí are seeking anyone in the area between 9pm and 10.45pm on Saturday, including motorists with dashcam footage. (irishtimes.com)
- investigationThe Garda investigation into the death is described as complex (irishmirror.ie)
- investigationGardaí are probing whether he died as a direct result of his injuries or some other medical cause (irishmirror.ie)
- investigationA murder investigation has not commenced; Gardaí are pursuing the attackers for alleged assault (irishmirror.ie)
- investigationInvestigators are awaiting the results of a post-mortem examination (irishmirror.ie)
- investigationThe investigation is being carried out under a Senior Investigating Officer (irishmirror.ie)
- investigationGardaí are appealing for camera footage from persons or road users in the area between 9:00pm and 10:45pm on Saturday 30 May 2026 (irishmirror.ie)
- investigationGardaí are awaiting the results of a post-mortem examination to determine the course of the investigation. (irishmirror.ie)
- investigationGardaí are appealing for witnesses and camera footage from the area between 9:00pm and 10:45pm on Saturday 30 May 2026. (irishmirror.ie)
- investigationMcDonnell's death is being investigated by Fiosrú (irishtimes.com)
- investigationA postmortem examination on McDonnell was due to be carried out (irishtimes.com)
- otherThomas Griffin was the brother of James Griffin, who was stabbed to death aged 26 at an illegal rave in Dublin in 2014. (irishtimes.com)
- otherJames Griffin was attacked at an illegal rave in a disused unit at Park West Business Park in November 2014. (irishtimes.com)
- otherJames Griffin sustained 10 wounds to the neck, torso and arm before his attackers fled in a taxi. (irishtimes.com)
- otherThe inquest into James Griffin's death in 2022 heard he received multiple stab wounds to the neck, torso and arm (irishmirror.ie)
- otherThe case regarding James Griffin remained open but was no longer under active investigation (irishmirror.ie)
- otherHis brother James Griffin, 26, was stabbed to death at the Celtic Gladiators Private Members Club in Ballyfermot on 16 November 2014. (irishmirror.ie)
- otherThomas Griffin was a boxer who trained at St Matthews Boxing Club in Ballyfermot. (irishmirror.ie)
The reporting
newest first- 7 Jun2026Man found dead in Garda custody suspected of stabbing man who died after jumping into Liffey
Reports McDonnell's death in custody under Fiosrú investigation, details of the stabbing of Griffin, and McDonnell's extensive criminal history including the 2022 Gary Carey murder and a 2015 prison escape.
victim, Thomas Griffin, 31, male, irish (judged from name)Thomas Griffinsuspect, Lee McDonnell, 34, male, named, irish (judged from name)Lee McDonnell - 3 Jun2026Victim who jumped into Liffey after attack named
Names the victim as Thomas Griffin, 32, a Ballyfermot native and boxer who trained at St Matthews Boxing Club. Confirms he was slashed in the face and body, swam toward Chapelizod Road before dying at St James' Hospital. Notes his brother James Griffin was stabbed to death in Ballyfermot in 2014. Gardaí are awaiting post-mortem and appealing for witnesses and footage between 9:00pm and 10:45pm on 30 May 2026.
victim, Thomas Griffin, 32, male, irish (judged from name)Thomas Griffin - 3 Jun2026'Complex' probe into death of man who escaped assault by entering river
Adds that the investigation is described as 'complex', that Gardaí are probing whether death was caused by injuries or another medical cause, that a murder investigation has not commenced, that Griffin was slashed in the face and body, and that his brother James 'Jay' Griffin was stabbed to death in 2014. Includes tributes from boxer Luke Keeler and councillor Daithi Doolan, and the full Garda statement with timeline details.
victim, Thomas Griffin, 32, male, irish (judged from name)Thomas Griffin - 2 Jun2026Man who died after swimming across river Liffey was victim of earlier knife attack
Provides details on the circumstances of the attack, Griffin's background as the brother of James Griffin (killed in 2014), the establishment of an investigation team at Clondalkin station, the pending postmortem, and the appeal for witnesses and dashcam footage between 9pm and 10.45pm.
victim, Thomas Griffin, 31, male, irish (judged from name)Thomas Griffin - 1 Jun2026Man dies after swimming across river Liffey following alleged assault
Reports the death of the man in St James's Hospital, confirms the cause of death is not yet clear and a postmortem has been ordered, and details the Garda appeal for witnesses and camera/dashcam footage from 9pm to 10.45pm on Saturday.
victim, 30s, male