Man jailed for 'mindless' arson attack that caused €45,000 damage

A Letterkenny man has been jailed for three and a half years for a ’mindless, random and bizarre’ arson attack.

Rory O’Hara caused almost €45,000 worth of damage when he set a car alight in an underground car park to the rear of Riverside Apartments in Letterkenny on November 29, 2018.

Tenants had to be evacuated from nearby apartments when the blaze broke out. O’Hara used a cigarette lighter to set alight the seat in a car.

Judge John Aylmer sentenced O’Hara to five years in prison, with the final 18 months suspended.

O’Hara pleaded guilty to a charge of arson, which carries a maximum life sentence of life imprisonment.

Passing sentence at Letterkenny Circuit Court, Judge Aylmer said he placed the incident on the midrange of such offences.

“This was a very serious offence with the potential for far more damage and the loss of life,” Judge Aylmer said.

CCTV footage showed a man enter the underground car park at 10.46pm and leave again at 10.52pm. Shortly after he exits, smoke is seen coming from the car park.

The man initially gave his name as ‘Patrick’, but was identified as being O’Hara.

Damage to the value of €44,996 was caused in the incident.

The accused told Gardai that he was ‘out of his head’ and said he needed help.

Mr Shane Costello BL, O’Hara’s barrister, said there was ‘no rhyme or reason’ why O’Hara set fire to the car.

“It is a very serious, but bizarre crime,” Mr Costello sad. “What could have happened, he is very well aware of and very alive to. There is no explanation for it. He was off his head at the time.”

Mr Costello said O’Hara was using cannabis and a synthetic drug called ‘spice’ at the time.

“He has little understanding or recollection, but he accepts what he did,” Mr Costello said.

Judge John Aylmer said a headline sentence, before mitigation, of seven years imprisonment, was appropriate.

“This was a mindless, random and bizarre offence, committed while intoxicated with drugs,” Judge Aylmer said.

“He appears to suffer from an anxiety disorder, resorting to the abuse of drugs and alcohol.”

Judge Aylmer said O’Hara had recently abstained from drugs and alcohol and that he was making ‘significant and good progress’. O’Hara, a father-of-one whose partner is expecting a child, had engaged in parenting courses.

O’Hara paid €500 to court as a ‘token of remorse, a sum which Judge Aylmer ordered be paid to the owner of the car which was written off after the incident.

Passing a sentence of five years in jail, Judge Aylmer suspended the final 18 months of the sentence, ordering O’Hara enter a bond of €100 to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for a period of 18 months post-release.

Judge Aylmer ordered O’Hara to abstain from alcohol and unprescribed drugs and to engage with local mental health services as directed by the Probation Service.