A distressing scene greeted locals in Fermoy recently, who happened to use the public toilets situated on Ashe Quay on a Tuesday afternoon. 

One man described what he saw upon opening the door to the men’s bathrooms one afternoon recently: “There was blood on the floor, and someone was moaning inside. It was very alarming,” he said. 

Continuing, the Fermoy native wondered whether the individual concerned had been struck or fallen. 

“Someone called the Gardaí and they came and picked him up and brought him off,” he told The Avondhu

Public order offences

In a statement, a spokesperson for An Garda Síochána confirmed that Fermoy Gardaí had responded to an incident just after 12.40pm on Tuesday, March 10. 

“A male in his 40s was arrested on Public Order Offences and taken to Fermoy Garda Station,” the spokesperson said. 

He went on to note that there did not appear to be any other individuals involved in the incident.

The public toilets in Fermoy have only been reopened in recent weeks, following a lengthy closure caused by suspected vandalism in which a pane of glass on the building’s front facade was broken.