Woman charged with setting fire to own home changes her plea to guilty
A COOKSTOWN woman who was to stand trial on charges of torching her home while she and two members of her family were inside has changed her plea to guilty.
Gillian Mccutcheon (62) from Millburn Avenue in the Co Tyrone town admitted damaging the property by fire on April 11, 2019, in the process unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm on a male and causing actual bodily harm to a second.
The victims are the accused’s husband and son, and the incident occurred in their family home.
It was previously disclosed the smoke alarm alerted one of the occupants to the blaze and the Fire & Rescue Service attended shortly before 7.30am on the day in question.
Mccutcheon and her husband were rescued from the kitchen area by firefighters wearing breathing apparatus.
The couple’s 30-year-old son was found upstairs and brought to safety.
All three required treatment at the scene for smoke inhalation.
The husband sustained very serious injuries and was airlifted to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
The son was transferred to hospital by ambulance.
Having examined the scene, police said the fire appeared to have been started deliberately inside the property.
Witnesses described smoke billowing from the house while a distressed male was crying out for help from an upstairs window.
Mccutcheon was not badly injured and was arrested a few days after the incident.
She has remained in custody ever since.
She pleaded not guilty last month, but at a recent sitting of Dungannon Crown Court, defence lawyers requested re-arraignment and all matters were accepted.
While pre-sentence reports are in the process of being prepared, a defence lawyer pointed out there is possible argument over whether the offence was deliberate or reckless. Referencing the prosecution’s case that the fire was set deliberately, he said: “I intend to set out why there may be a reason against this … That the accused was totally inebriated at the time brings nothing to this, so it’s really some observations I have in relation to debris in the kitchen.”
The defence is anxious to keep the current sentencing date next month given the time Mccutcheon has spent on remand, during which she never applied for bail.
Judge Brian Sherrard QC noted the potential for differing sentences, depending on whether the blaze was a reckless or deliberate, and suggested a “meeting of minds” between defence and prosecution.