The Sligo Champion

ARSON ATTACK

- By PAUL DEERING

A 38-year-old man has been given a three year suspended jail term for his part in an arson attack at the home of another man in which his car was destroyed.

Sligo Circuit Court was told Patrick Joseph Hegarty of Calry Court Apartments, Stephen Street had got involved in a dispute with members of the Murrin family.

He apologised for his actions and his regret was accepted by the victim, Tony Murrin in court. Both men shook hands and also embraced each other after Hegarty left the witness box. Hegarty had pleaded guilty to the arson of Mr Murrin’s Skoda Fabia car at 4 St Anne’s Terrace in the early hours of September 18th 2015.

Last July a co-accused, John Dennedy of Racecourse View, Cranmore was jailed for 18 months. He pleaded guilty to damaging by fire the sitting room window of the house.

The court heard that there was family feud going on and that Mr Murrin and Dennedy’s father were brothers.

The 2004 Skoda Fabia, worth €2,000 was destroyed in the fire after a window was smashed and an accelerant was poured in. An attempt was made to set the house on fire while Mr Murrin and his family were present.

The front window was broken and damaged estimated at €150 was caused.

Mr Murrin told the sentencing hearing of Hegarty that the damage could have been much worse had the accused not intervened with Dennedy.

“He (Hegarty) tried his best that night. Only for him we’d have been dead,” said Mr Murrin from the body of the court after asking could he address the court.

Hegarty replied: “Thank you Tony.”

Judge Johnson said he was impressed by the defendant’s apology and that Mr Murrin deserved great credit for his interventi­on. The court heard there was a dispute over the ownership of 4 St Anne’s Terrace which belonged to the victim’s mother and the accused’s grandmothe­r.

There had also been an incident at the District Court earlier that day which had annoyed Dennedy. After setting the car on fire, Dennedy broke a front window in the house and attempted to set the property on fire. The incident was captured on CCTV and the footage was shown to the court.

He had shouted atHegarty to “squirt it in and I’ ll burn them up like a rolly,”

Mr Murrin was in bed when the attack happened at around 4.45am. He heard Dennedy outside shouting at him to come. Mr Murrin saw that his car was on fire and he also heard glass breaking downstairs.

He shouted at his family members to get out and he ran into the street. He saw Dennedy, his nephew and knew the man with him as P. J.

Garda Danny Grimes agreed that Hegarty didn’t have a particular axe to grind with Mr Murrin and seemed to have been brought along on the night by Dennedy.

In his Victim Impact Statement, Mr Murrin said his health had suffered badly since the incident. He was brought to hospital by ambulance suffering from chest pains the next morning. He declined to stay as he feared for the safety of his children.

In May 2015 he had three stints placed in his heart and was living in constant fear of attack. He was on edge when his boys go out in case anything might happen them. He was on heart medication and also anti-depressant­s.

He said all his family wanted was to be able to relax in their home and get a good night’s sleep. He and his family were emotionall­y and mentally scarred as a result of the traumatic incident. Garda Grimes said he met Dennedy and Hegarty out of breath near the scene and both smelled of petrol. Dennedy was topless. Both were arrested.

Hegarty was interviewe­d at 2.39pm that same day having been allowed time to sober up.

He revealed how he had been drinking with Dennedy who was “raging” over a verbal exchange he had with Mr Murrin earlier that day at the District Court.

Hegarty said he didn’t remember being at St Anne’s Terrace. He was shown the CCTV footage and he agreed that he had poured petrol into the car and that it also appeared he had sprayed a liquid into the sitting room. He agreed that what he did was reckless. He described it as being “freaky and scary.” He agreed that he had now got himself involved in a family feud.

He was remorseful, said Garda Grimes., who said Hegarty was extremely drunk on the night. Ms Foynes outlined a number of previous conviction­s the defendant had.

Garda Grimes agreed with Mr Keith O’Grady BL (defending) that Hegarty was an entirely different person when sober and that he had been the lesser of the two participan­ts that night. Garda Grimes also agreed that Hegarty thought he was going over to St Anne’s for a fight.

Mr O’Grady, who handed in a psychiatri­c report to court, said the defendant had taken out two credit union loans one for €1,500 and another for €500 to pay for the damage he caused, the loans got with the help of the people running the hostel where he was now living. He was also deeply involved in the Men’s Shed in Letterkenn­y.

Mr O’Grady said the defendant was repentant and while he had tackled his alcohol issue there had been a “couple of slips since.”

“I’m asking you to consider an alternativ­e to the immediate imposition of a custodial sentence,” he pleaded.

He added that Hegarty, a father of three, had no gripe with Mr Murrin was not a danger or a risk to the family.

Hegarty, in evidence, apologised to Mr Murrin saying he didn’t even know him. He had no involvemen­t since with Dennedy since and “I won’t have.” He described himself as an alcoholic but that he was doing very well at the moment.

Judge Johnson said while it was accepted he had acted in concert with Dennedy, the defendant had played a more minor role. The defendant was there at the behest of Dennedy. Mr Murrin stated that he did prevent further damage by intervenin­g with Dennedy and this was a hugely mitigating factor.

“Alcoholism is the root cause of your offending and if you stay sober you have a lot to offer to society,” said the Judge. A three year jail term was imposed, suspended for five years. He must also keep the peace for five years and undergo probation service supervisio­n for two years. He must also stay alcohol free and engage with the mental health services.

 ??  ?? Sligo Courthouse.
Sligo Courthouse.

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