Dylan Deegan jailed for 21 months over car arson linked to drug debt

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Dylan Deegan was sentenced to 21 months in prison at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for damaging a car by fire in a Tallaght car park on June 10, 2025. He pleaded guilty to the offence. The proceedings were reported on February 14, 2026.

Judge Martin Nolan backdated the sentence to when Deegan entered custody. The judge said there had been a plan to burn out the car as a warning to its owner to pay a drug debt. He noted that Deegan had become involved because of his own difficulties and had been placed under some form of coercion. The judge said the arson had posed no great danger to any other person or property.

The report said Deegan broke the car’s rear window with a wheel brace, while a second man poured accelerant inside and set it alight. That man had been jailed for three years, with six months suspended. Deegan was identified from CCTV. He told gardaí he had been in a bad place and became involved because of his own drug debt; he said he did not know who owned the car.

Deegan had 22 previous convictions, including robbery, aggravated burglary and assault. His defence counsel, Vanessa Frawley BL, said he accepted full responsibility and had acted under the orders of others after building up a drug debt.