Update 12pm: The man who passed away following an assault in Limerick last night has been named locally as Gerard Freyne, aged 51, from Prospect.

Gardaí are treating the death as suspicious and are awaiting the results of a post mortem.

Earlier:

Gardaí have launched a murder investigation into the death of a man who was assaulted in Limerick, last Wednesday night writes David Raleigh.

The man, aged in his 50s, is a close relative of a convicted criminal who rode a bicycle through the Treaty City, armed with a sawn off shotgun, after he shot and injured a man who was sitting close to a group of children.

The victim of Wednesday night’s assault suffered serious head injuries after he was attacked at the junction of Lord Edward Street and Lower Carey’s Road, Limerick, around 7.45pm.

He was rushed to Cork University Hospital where he passed away around 5.30am this morning.

Gardai have conducted house to house enquiries in the vicinity of the attack and CCTV footage is being harvested.

A Garda spokesman said the victim “died around 5.30am, and the investigation has been upgraded to murder”.

Gardai at Roxboro Road have appealed for witnesses to contact them on 061-214340.

Jason Freyne, a close relative of the victim, was jailed for five and a half years last May after he shot a man who was sitting on a wall next to a group of children.

Freyne, (24), of no fixed abode, was wearing a bullet-proof vest and armed with a sawn-off shotgun and roaming Limerick on his bicycle, intent on shooting people, Limerick Circuit Court heard.

When Gardai arrested Freyne he told them he would have killed someone had he not been apprehended.

Freyne, (24), of no fixed abode, had pleaded guilty to charges of possessing a 12 gauge sawn-off shotgun and cartridges at Hyde Rd, Limerick, on May 9, 2015, with intent to endanger life.

Freyne previously escaped from custody as he was being returned to prison on remand after appearing at a Ennis courthouse, and went on the run for six days. He publicly taunting gardai via his Facebook page but later appeared at the front gates of Limerick Prison effectively returning himself to custody.

An acquaintance of Freyne’s had posted a picture of the film Catch Me If You Can, starring Leonardo DiCaprio to his page, urging him to watch it while he was at large.

Freyne, with 46 previous convictions, responded in another posting along with photos of himself: “Who else is out today haha”.

Additional reporting by Jimmy Woulfe