Man released in Rialto inquiry

A man has been released without charge by Gardaí investigating the fatal stabbing of German student in Dublin over the weekend.

He is the fourth person to be questioned over the knife attack in Rialto in the early hours of Saturday morning.

A Garda spokesman said a file was being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Two men were stabbed, one of them fatally, in the early hours of Saturday morning after they had, gardaí believe, become involved in an earlier fight with two youths aged 16 and 19.

The dead man, Thomas Heinrich ( 22), was from Germany and had been studying media.

He was stabbed in the abdomen and suffered a severed artery in the attack outside the apartment where he was living in the Rialto area.

The second victim, a friend of the dead man and also from Germany, is seriously ill in hospital but is expected to survive.

He suffered a number of slash and stab wounds, mostly to his hands, none of which is life-threatening.

Three people who were questioned by gardaí over the stabbing were today released without charge. A woman aged in her forties and two male teenagers had been in Garda custody  since yesterday.

A Garda spokesman said the three were freed last night. A file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The double stabbing occurred outside the Herberton apartments on St Anthony’s Road at about 5.30am.

Gardaí believe the two men stabbed were at a social gathering in a first-floor apartment.

They were on the balcony with a number of other people when two local teenagers walked past on the street below.

Detectives believe words were exchanged between the teenagers and the men on the balcony.

At that point at least two men from the party in the apartment made their way downstairs and became involved in an altercation on the street with the teenagers.

Gardaí are trying to establish whether a fight then broke out, as some witnesses suggested the row became physical at that point.

After a period the altercation ended and the local teenagers left the scene as the men with whom they were arguing returned to the party.

However, some time later the teenagers came back and, when confronted on the street again by people from the party, the teenagers allegedly produced knives and the two German men were stabbed.

The man who died lost a significant amount of blood at the scene. He was taken by ambulance to the nearby St James’s Hospital, where he underwent surgery.

He was pronounced dead at about 9am.

Local gardaí from Kilmainham Garda station have been carrying out door-to-door inquiries in the area.

They have spoken to some of the people who were at the party in the apartment and to other people who witnessed the events.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Kilmainham Garda station on 01-6669700.