A US tourist has been arrested in connection with the violent death of his father at one of the nation’s most exclusive five-star hotels. The older man, in his 60s, died near the poolside at the leisure centre in the Ballyfin Demesne hotel in Co. Laois.
The luxury hotel’s past guests include A-list stars such as George Clooney and Kim Kardashian. The violent incident happened shortly before 8pm on Tuesday. Horrified staff discovered the man’s lifeless body and the emergency services were called.
The son of the man was arrested a short time later. He was last night being quizzed over the attack and is expected to be charged or released by this afternoon. Gardaí are satisfied there was no weapon used in the brutal attack on the man, who had travelled from New York to see his son.
No clear motive has been established as of yet. While a post-mortem was being carried out last night, gardaí believe the victim may have been beaten to death. CCTV was also being viewed last night.
It is believed that the father had travelled from Manhattan in New York to Co. Laois due to concerns over his son, who had been acting erratically in the days leading up to the tragic incident. Sources said that the victim had only arrived in Ireland on Tuesday and was dead several hours later.
‘This appears to be a very sad case,’ one source explained. ‘What gardaí know so far is that the younger man was very vulnerable at the time and had been acting quite unwell earlier in the week, whic.
