Woman no longer feels safe in her home following arson attack court hears
A woman said she no longer feels safe, struggles to sleep and feels intimidated in her own town.
In her victim impact statement to the December sitting of Tullamore Circuit Court, Shauna Keenan, who lives at 1 Charleville Parade, Tullamore, spoke of the night of May 5, 2022, when she looked out of her window to see Faris Doherty who also lived in Charleville Parade, setting her car on fire.
Faris Doherty was facing 3 counts of arson. He pleaded guilty to count 1, setting a Hyundai car alight.
Kevin White BL, prosecuting, directed by State Solicitor Sandra Mahon, said two other charges against Mr Doherty, that of damage to houses at 1 Charleville Parade and 2 Charleville Parade, stemmed from the vehicle fire. He asked the court to take these into consideration.
In his evidence Detective Garda Adrian Hanley showed CCTV footage of the night when Faris Doherty set fire to the car and of the flames engulfing the vehicle.
He said, Sergeant Aidan Lyons had viewed the footage and due to the height of the defendant had suspected it was Faris Doherty who lived at 4 Charleville Parade.
He said he spoke to Shauna Keenan who reported that Mr Doherty had made a number of advances towards her which she had rejected. He said she had gone to bed that night at 11.30pm, she later heard a loud bang and saw a male wearing dark clothing at her car. She shouted at him to leave her car alone but he had just laughed.
Detective Garda Hanley said that having identified Faris Doherty, they called to his house where they found him at the washing machine. Washing was spilling out of the machine and laundry tablets were on the floor. He also had burns to his hands. There was a smell of accelerant in the house. Mr Doherty was arrested and detained under section 4 of the criminal justice act, He denied any involvement. He was charged on May 5 2022.
In her victim impact statement, Ms Keenan said that in April 2022 she had been taking shopping out of her car when Mr Doherty, who was a neighbour, asked her to go for coffee, she refused.
On April 25 there was another attempt by Mr Doherty to ask her out but she ignored him and she said she thought he looked annoyed. On another occasion she said he was coming out of his house but she just got into her car and drove away. On the day before the incident he came over to her and she went into her house. She said he made her feel uncomfortable.
She said her vehicle had been burnt beyond repair. The fire had damaged the windows of her home and the front door had melted and been left warped. She said she is still afraid. The cost of repairing the window and doors had run into thousands of euro.
She said she had apologised to her neighbours as she had felt somehow partly responsible and she felt it was the only apology they were going to get.
''How can you console an 8 year old'', asked Ms Keenan. She described how frightened she was on the night of the incident and she had taken her two sons out to the back of her house as she was terrified the car would explode. She said she was desperate to save her boys.
She said she had been horrified and had pleaded with Faris Doherty to stop. She said her sons still speak about the night and ask ''will that man come back.''
She said her son has had a diagnosis of cancer which compounded the stress she was already under.
She said she knows that her father often drove around the town at night to ensure that Faris Doherty was not in the town. She said she had the car only for a short period and was using it to attend college.
Judge Keenan Johnson sympathised with Ms Keenan and said that he hoped she could draw a line in the stand after sentencing is over. He said she seemed like a great mother and asked her how her son was, she replied that he was doing well.
The court heard that Mr Doherty had written a letter of apology to Ms Keenan which was ''not appreciated.''
A second woman, Fiona Dalton, who also lives at Charleville Parade had awoken at 1.45am after hearing a loud bang on the morning of the incident. She had been shocked at the damage caused to her house.
Her partner had passed away a month previously and the house insurance had lapsed. She didn't realise this and so she was left to pay for the full cost of the repairs.
Faris Doherty took to the witness stand and said he was extremely sorry. He described what he did as filthy, disgusting and vile. He described Ms Keenan as a peaceful and beautiful young woman. He said he wanted her to forgive him. I don't wish her any harm. ''I hope and pray she can find it in her to forgive me,'' he said.
Defending barrister Colm Smyth, directed by solicitor Donal Farrelly, pointed out to Mr Doherty that the loss of Ms Keenan's car was significant as she was using it in her studies and she was at the loss of €10,750. He asked Faris Doherty if had money to pay compensation. Mr Doherty said he had managed to accumulate €10,000.
The court heard that the overall cost of damages amounted to €23,000.
Mr Doherty said he wanted to raise more funds. He said he was currently in therapy which he started three weeks ago. He said he was also undertaking a Men Power rehabilitation programme for people who came from a traumatic background which is a 13 week programme. In addition he was taking a city and guilds course which trains candidates in welding and fabrication. It helps candidates to find employment, he said.
Barrister Colm Smyth said Mr Doherty had no previous convictions. He said he has issues in life, but acknowledged that what he has gone through comes no where near what Ms Keenan had gone through.
He said he is a person who has never been in trouble before. He is facing prison and could find it difficult and become a target of unwanted attention from other inmates.
Judge Keenan Johnson said prison is unavoidable in this case. It is far too serious, he said.
He deferred sentencing until December 21 as he said he wanted to give it some consideration.
He directed that €5,800 of the money accumulated by Mr Doherty should be given to Fiona Dalton to help with repair costs. He said it was an exceptionally serious offence and it was a miracle that no one was killed.
Mr Doherty was remanded in custody and will appear at Tullamore Circuit Court on December 21 for sentencing.