Courts / Carlow / Report

Sentences increased for trio in 'targeted and pre-meditated' arson attack

Date
2025-07-17

Stage
Appeal

Primary locality
Tullow

County
Carlow

Summary

In a Court of Appeal hearing on 17 July 2025, three men were found to have received sentences that were too lenient for a "targeted and pre‑meditated" arson that took place on 17 May 2022. The incident involved a stolen Toyota Avensis being rammed into the ground floor of the Tip Top Tanning Studio on Tullow Street, Carlow, and set alight with an accelerant. The blaze spread to the building's upper residential apartments, where families were sleeping. Keith McCormack Smith (24), Jason Ryle (26) and PJ Lyons (21) had all pleaded guilty to arson and related offences. Their original sentences—four, three‑and‑a‑half and three‑and‑a‑half years respectively—were increased to seven, six and four‑and‑a‑half years. The Court of Appeal quashed the original sentences and imposed new headline sentences of ten, nine‑and‑a‑half and nine years, each with a suspended portion, to reflect the seriousness of the offence.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Sentences increased for trio in 'targeted and pre-meditated' arson attack. Charges or matters: arson at Tip Top Tanning Studio, Tullow Street, Carlow on May 17, 2022, and arson to a Toyota car on the same date and at the same location; various other charges including unlawful use of a motor vehicle, unlawful carriage in a motor vehicle and theft between May 1 and May 17, 2022; arson arising out of the same incident; a number of other charges including unlawful use of a motor vehicle, attempted theft and theft on various dates in May 2022. Procedural stage: appeal

When:

May 17, 2022 Incident
May 1 Hearing Or Sentence
July 31, 2024 Incident
May 2022 Incident
2025-07-17 Publication

Case subjects

Jason Ryle

Defendant

Charges: arson at Tip Top Tanning Studio, Tullow Street, Carlow on May 17, 2022, and arson to a Toyota car on the same date and at the same location; various other charges including unlawful use of a motor vehicle, unlawful carriage in a motor vehicle and theft between May 1 and May 17, 2022; arson arising out of the same incident; a number of other charges including unlawful use of a motor vehicle, attempted theft and theft on various dates in May 2022 (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: Ryle was sentenced to five and a half years' imprisonment with the final two years suspended while Lyons was also handed a sentence of five and a half years with the final two years suspended for a period of two years and three months. In the case of Ryle, the headline sentence set was nine and a half years, reduced to seven years with the final year suspended.

Keith McCormack Smith

Defendant

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: Judge Eugene O'Kelly sentenced McCormack Smith to six years with the final two years suspended at Carlow Circuit Court on July 31, 2024. She said that the appropriate headline sentence for McCormack Smith was ten years for the arson offence, which was reduced to eight years with the final year suspended.

Pj Lyons

Convicted Person

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: Ryle was sentenced to five and a half years' imprisonment with the final two years suspended while Lyons was also handed a sentence of five and a half years with the final two years suspended for a period of two years and three months. And in the case of Lyons, Ms Justice Kennedy fixed the headline sentence at nine years, reduced to six and a half years with the final two years suspended.