BREAKING: Retailer rushed to ED after woman bites him in Limerick shop and claims she has HIV

A LIMERICK city centre retailer was rushed to hospital after a woman bit him multiple times and spat in his face - before claiming she was HIV positive.

Seaghan Gleeson, who only got engaged at the weekend, said he is "rattled" following the incident at his family's Spar shop at Catherine Street.

Now, he says he is seriously considering the store's future in the city centre.

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"She bit me three times. I was lucky enough she didn't break my skin. But then she also spat in my face and some of it went into my mouth. That's when I had no choice but to get a blood test," Mr Gleeson explained to Limerick Live this Thursday, confirming the woman told him she had HIV.

Ambulances and gardai arrived in convoy following the incident, at around four o'clock on Wednesday afternoon.

Gardai arrested the woman, aged in her 40s. She was taken to a garda station, but has since been released.

Mr Gleeson, who is manager of the outlet, said the woman in question is known to staff, having previously been banned.

The businessman was transferred by ambulance to the University Hospital Limerick (UHL) emergency department (ED) where he remained for three hours.

Customers were left unable to leave the store during the incident, with one onlooker ringing his wife from the scene and telling her he felt he was "being held hostage" as the situation unfolded.

The woman who entered the shop was "completely intoxicated", the manager said.

"She is barred from here, but came in anyway. I've seen her use needles, prescription drugs," he added.

"It's a cycle, they don't really care. Even if they know they are barred, they will still try and come in."

Ultimately, it will be six months before the results of the blood tests Mr Gleeson had taken at UHL will be known.

A video seen by Limerick Live of the incident shows the woman attempting to take stock, and Mr Gleeson intervening before she insists she is planning to buy the items.

The footage also shows the woman throwing merchandise. 

She is also verbally abusive to the businessman, the video shows.

"I was definitely rattled. The frustration levels were very high. If it was a man, you could try and restrain the man. But it's very hard to restrain the women. You can't put your hands anywhere," he said.

"There needs to be some form of deterrent for them. At the moment, they do whatever they want. For example, when we were trying to contain her, she started picking up and destroying as much product as she could. She was trying to inflict as much damage to me on a personal level as she could," he said.

Mr Gleeson admits he is worried for his staff - if they fall victim to an incident like this, he is worried "they'd down tools and do something else to be safer".

"It gets to me, it worries me as to what happens if something happens to a staff member, in terms of them getting struck by a needle or hit like that," he adds.

The whole incident has left him questioning his family shop's future in the city.

"Shane [Gleeson, his father and owner of a number of Spar stores across Limerick] has made investments since 2007-08, and the last three investments he has made have been outside the city. Two in Castletroy, one in Ballinacurra. Even Balllinacurra struggles as it's in close proximity to the city," Mr Gleeson added.

"We have looked at future investments in Limerick, but it will never again be in the city centre. In my mind, if things get worse, if something ever happens to my father or uncle, and responsibility is left to me, I think I might just turn it into accommodation, get out of here and focus on the stores in Castletroy. I am 31 years of age, I am not going to be able to do this if it continues to progress," he concluded.