Around the day after St Patricks Day I read an article about some English kid who got a finger severed off by a gang of anti English Irish youths in a scene which mirrored that in American history X. As soon as I read this I was quite confident the 17 year old in question was lying through his teeth. The following articles are the Irish Independants reports on the before and after stories..
Gardai cast doubt on Victims Story
HE made headlines when he claimed he lost his finger in a vicious attack by a gang of youths on St Patrick's Day because he was British.
But gardai said yesterday they were "happy" that the horrific injuries suffered by young pianist Guy Wallace were not caused by an assault and they want to re-interview him.
Mr Wallace (17) claimed the gang went ahead with the dismemberment, despite his desperate pleas for mercy.
During a shocking radio interview, the schoolboy, who is the son of a Conservative councillor in Somerset, said he begged the gang to leave him alone and even offered them money.
Ignoring his desperate cries, he said they put his finger at the edge of a kerb and jumped on it to sever it from his hand.
Despite an extensive search, his finger has not been found.
Last night, gardai said they were "surprised" at his account of an attack, which he had not mentioned during an interview with detectives in hospital.
A spokesperson said detectives were "happy" that Mr Wallace's horrific injury was not caused by an assault.
Gardai are seeking to re-interview Mr Wallace.
They said he had not suggested a racist motivation for the attack and had had no memory of being set upon by a gang.
Gardai are aware that he had been drinking in Temple Bar before going to McDonald's, on O'Connell Street, where he was involved in a minor altercation.
After that, there is CCTV footage of him running down O'Connell Street.
Members of the gardai later came upon him on Cumberland Street, holding his bloodstained hand.
Sources said that detectives are looking at the possibility that the schoolboy may have fallen.
They have interviewed witnesses who were at McDonald's and said it did not appear that Mr Wallace had suffered a serious assault there.
Headbutt
There were reports that someone may have tried to headbutt him in the fast food restaurant and he may have received a "slap" before running off.
In a radio interview yesterday morning, Mr Wallace claimed his finger was ripped off during an horrific attack.
He said he had became separated from his friends on O'Connell Street around 8pm on Monday night.
He claimed he met a gang that became aggressive after he said he was English and inflicted the horrific injury.
Mr Wallace, who is studying for his A-levels, made a hasty retreat from the city yesterday for a speciality hospital in Plymouth, where he received further surgery.
He arrived at Dublin Airport with his injured hand in a bandage at around 10.30am yesterday. He shielded his face from cameras as he spoke to his father, William, on the phone, before boarding a Ryanair flight to Bristol.
His father said he bore no grudges towards Irish people or Dublin and said it "could have happened anywhere".
William Wallace said his son had been a pianist for a long time and considered it a major hobby, although he was not contemplating a professional career.
"He's okay, but we're trying to get him to hospital to be treated properly," he said, following his son's arrival.
"Guy will get further treatment here but his finger has still not been found.
"This hasn't changed my opinion of Dublin and I love Ireland and the Irish."
His son also said he did not bear any grudge towards Ireland.
"It was a group of thugs not representative of everyone," he said. "I walked past a group of about five young men and they asked me where I was from.
"I said England and they got very aggressive. I was begging, I offered money and asked them not to hurt me. The next thing I knew I was on the floor.
"Then all I remember is pain in my eye and excruciating pain in my hand.
"My guess is they put my finger over a kerb and stamped on it. The surgeons at the hospital said it looked like a bite mark but I don't believe that."
But the young English boy, who plays rugby, said it has not changed his view of Ireland.
He said he believes his ability to play rugby and the piano could be affected but remained optimistic about the future.
"I play second row," he said. "I suppose catching the ball and passing might be affected."
"I have been doing research into bionic fingers so maybe I'll be able to get surgery."
OH HO HO HO HO HO Do I hear a Lee Major Wah wah Peddle??
(We Have the Shamrocks To Rebuild Him)
Severed Finger Found
A young man's claim that his finger was torn off during a vicious racist attack on St Patrick's Day has been dramatically disproved.
English tourist Guy Wallace's bloodied finger was found on top of a serrated railing in Dublin's city centre yesterday.
Eyewitnesses said the finger looked like a "burnt sausage" when it was removed from a steel fence surrounding an office car park.
Gardai made the gruesome discovery around 11.30am on Britain Place after CCTV footage showed the schoolboy trying to climb the jagged barrier.
The little finger from his right hand lay hidden for nine days in a gap on a steel bar that runs through the fence, and is impossible to see unless you stand back on the road.
It was positioned a few inches from sharp prods at the top of the eight-foot railing outside the Eircom building, which fronts onto Marlborough Street.
Sniffer dog
The finger's position at the top of the fence meant it had evaded sniffer dogs that had scoured the area for days.
Mr Wallace (17) claimed last week that he was attacked by a gang who callously ignored his desperate pleas for mercy.
He said the men had become aggressive after he told them he was English.
Despite attempts to offer them money, he said they ripped off his finger by placing it on a kerb and jumping on it.
He has since had surgery at a hospital in Plymouth but a re-attachment was impossible as his finger could not be found.
Last night, Guy's father William Wallace, a Conservative Party councillor in Somerset, and his mother, Lucy, insisted that their son had genuinely believed he lost his finger in an assault.
Frightened
"On the night of March 17, Guy had split up from his friends, he was lost and very frightened after suffering an assault in a fast food restaurant where he received a headbutt," they said in a statement.
"Due to this assault, he was sufficiently traumatised to link the event with the terrible accident that took place minutes later and genuinely believed that he had lost his finger in that assault.
"However, in reality it seems that during his panic-stricken run from the incident he attempted to climb a metal fence, which resulted in the loss of his finger.
"All we want to do now is concentrate on Guy's recovery from this terrible ordeal."
A senior member of the security staff at Eircom House said its 800 staff were terrified that a bomb had been found in the building after gardai began to comb the area yesterday.
Billy Nagle said he rushed outside and saw gardai remove the finger in a glass container.
"From a distance, it looked like a burnt sausage and was shrivelled up," said Mr Nagle, facilities manager at Eircom House.
"That finger has been out there for over six days up high on a railing where he was trying to get in. It slipped down off the railings and got caught in a bar near the top."
He did not believe gardai would have found the finger if they had not searched the CCTV footage.
"There were sniffer dogs here nearly two weeks ago and a female garda looked at the footage before last weekend but she searched the wrong part of the railing."
It is understood that there was "panic" during the afternoon after gardai discovered that the CCTV recordings are automatically wiped every few days and they only had hours to transfer it.
Detectives said Guy was drinking in Temple Bar before he was involved in a minor altercation at McDonald's on O'Connell Street around 8pm.
CCTV footage picked him up running down O'Connell Street before gardai came upon him holding his bloodied hand on North Cumberland Street.
Gardai arrested a youth (17) last Wednesday who was later released without charge and a file was sent to the DPP.
"Gardai investigating the alleged serious assault are now satisfied that the injured party lost part of his finger while attempting to scale a fence in a laneway off Parnell Street, Dublin," said a spokesperson yesterday.
"Investigations are continuing regarding a minor assault which took place earlier in the O'Connell Street area."
I hope this shameful story follows this kid for the best part of his formative years and his parents ground him until hes 30. We in ireland would have had no problem in supplying him with a new finger - granted it would have been a middle one.
