Samurai sword and meat cleaver retrieved from Dublin home where woman found dead

Man arrested by police armed with flash grenades following death of 57-year-old Jean Eagers

Jean Eagers died at her Dublin home following a brutal attack (Facebook)

A samurai sword and a meat cleaver have been retrieved from the home where a mother-of-two was killed in Dublin.

Jean Eagers, 57, died at her house in Hartstown on Sunday morning as emergency services tried to treat her for stab wounds.

A witness to the incident ran to neighbours to raise the alarm, local media reported, before police used force to enter the property and subdue a 60-year-old man who was later arrested.

The suspect, who was injured during the incident, was taken to hospital, while Ms Eagers was pronounced dead a short time later, a police spokesperson said.

“There were armed gardai at the door shouting who they were and telling him to open the door, but he was shouting at them, ‘Put down your weapons, there’s nobody coming in here’. And so there was a bit of a stand-off,” one witness told the Belfast Telegraph.

“Then the gardai broke a pane of glass in the living room window and threw in two flash grenades, and when they went off there was two bangs and flashes and then the gardai burst into the house.”

The sword and meat cleaver were among a number of weapons seized from the property, according to the Irish Times. Officers are investigating if any were used in the incident.

The Gardai – the police service of the Republic of Ireland – said in a statement: “Gardai in Blanchardstown are investigating all of the circumstances surrounding the death of a 57-year-old woman following an incident in a house in Hartstown on Sunday, 21 June 2020.

“At approximately 11.30am Gardaí attended the scene of an incident at a house on Willow Wood Grove, Hartstown where a 57-year-old woman was discovered with serious injuries.

“The injured woman was treated at the scene by emergency services personnel but was pronounced dead a short time later.

“A 60-year-old man was arrested at the scene and detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at Blanchardstown Garda Station.”

A postmortem was due to be carried out on Monday morning.