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Jail for man who "inexplicably" set fire to charity house for disabled

Summary

Stephen O'Shaughnessy, aged 27, was sentenced by the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to three years' imprisonment, with the final year suspended, for setting fire to an empty house being refurbished for the charity Prosper Fingal. The fire, which occurred on 14 June 2016, caused smoke, fire and water damage to a building that was two weeks from completion and cost the contractor €170,000 to gut and refit. O'Shaughnessy, who was intoxicated when he set fire to cardboard inside the house, was arrested at 2.50 a.m. after a member of the public identified him. He pleaded guilty to damaging by fire a house at Prosper Fingal, Drogheda Street, Balbriggan. The judge noted that 17 people were due to use the facility and that the charity had to rethink its security strategy following the incident.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Jail for man who "inexplicably" set fire to charity house for disabled. Charges or matters: damaging by fire a house at Prosper Fingal, Drogheda Street, Balbriggan on June 14, 2016. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

• June 14, 2016 Hearing Or Sentence
• 2017-07-06 Publication

Why: He waited outside until gardaí arrived and could not offer a reason for his behaviour. CNI source report

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Sentence

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Read the original CNI report