THREE MEN from Tallaght appeared at Dublin District Court last night charged with causing grievous bodily harm.
They are accused of being part of a group of seven people which attacked a Tallaght man with baseball bats, batons and a pick axe handle, causing severe injuries which resulted in the man being hospitalised for a week.
About 50 people from the Killinarden Against Drugs group staged a protest outside the court calling for the three to be released.
Mr Cecil Johnson, Mr Michael Warner and Mr Denis Brunt are charged under Section 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 with causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Liam Gannon.
The court heard witnesses had been threatened. One woman was told she would be shot if the case proceeded.
Supt Patrick Fennessy, of Tallaght, said that gardai had searched the homes of the three men yesterday morning and found "a sword, batons, pick axe handles, coshes, an assortment of hammers, including a sledgehammer, and a halaclava helmet".
A defence lawyer said that the men were concerned about being remanded to Mountjoy and Judge Joseph Mangan directed that the governor of the jail be told of their fears for their safety. Bail was refused and they were remanded in custody to Rathfarnham District Court next Monday.