Jail for torching homeless hostel COURT HEARS OF IMPACT TO VICTIM
A CONSPIRACY theorist who was arrested after police found three boys and three girls in his basement in rural Austria has spoken out — claiming he is “no Josef Fritzl”.
Police breached
54-year-old Tom Landon’s home in Obritz, a town 80km north of Vienna, to find six kids and a 40-yearold woman, as well as a cache of guns, in the basement.
Landon was arrested by Austrian police after attacking social workers, who were carrying out an inspection of the property, with pepper spray.
He was released from custody on the same day, but is expected to be charged with resisting state authority.
A MAN who set fire to a homeless hostel last year, leaving a 22-yearold woman with catastrophic injuries, has been jailed for nine and a half years.
The fire at the Depaul Hostel in Dublin 7 that was started by Keith Riggs (38) in March last year left Shauna O’Brien with life-limiting injuries after she fell unconscious trying to escape the blaze.
In a victim impact statement read by Judge Dara Hayes, Ms O’Brien said Riggs had “taken her life and her children away from her”.
Riggs (38), of Deanstown Avenue, Finglas, Dublin 11, pleaded guilty to two counts of arson and one count of endangerment at the hostel on Little Green Street on March 26, 2022.
The court heard that Ms O’Brien remains in intensive care under specialist medical teams from the Mater Hospital and from Boston.
Father
Landon has distanced himself from comparisons to Josef Fritzl, the sicko who kept his daughter locked in his basement for 24 years. “I have been accused
Imposing sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday, Judge Hayes said this was “very serious offending with substantial aggravating factors”.
He noted that four people were hospitalised following the fire, with Ms O’Brien critically injured.
Life
of being the new Josef Fritzl. I am a philanthropist and a loving father”, he said.
Authorities were tipped off by Landon’s neighbours who heard children’s voices in the building, which had several CCTV cameras monitoring the premises.
The family is thought to have lived in the cellar for the past nine months.
Landon reportedly has links with the Austrian offshoot of the German Reichsburger movement, a far-right conspiracy group that primarily rejects the legitimacy of the state.
Judge Hayes said Ms O’Brien was a “22-year-old woman with her life in front of her” last March, but her life had been irrevocably changed by the “appalling fire”.
He also noted that the impact on Ms O’Brien’s two young children, her parents and her family.
Judge Hayes said it had cost Dublin
City Council over €2m to repair the hostel and house residents elsewhere during this period.
Judge Hayes said that Riggs’ warning to Ms O’Brien and his 999 call demonstrated an understanding of the potential consequences of his actions.
He said while Riggs had suicidal thoughts at the time, this did not excuse his actions or him putting others in danger.
Judge Hayes said the mitigating factors include Riggs’ guilty plea and expressions of remorse. He said Riggs had a long history of mental health issues and developed psychosis in his 20s.
He noted that Riggs is taking medication and has engaged with services while in custody.
Judge Hayes handed Riggs a total prison sentence of 11 years, with the final 18 months suspended on strict conditions.
He backdated the sentence to March 27, 2022 and extended his heartfelt sympathy to Ms O’Brien’s family.