Gareth Colley sentenced for arson after cars set alight

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

Gareth Colley was sentenced to three years, with the final 15 months suspended, at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, as reported on 18 May 2015. He had pleaded guilty to two arson charges and attempting to unlawfully take a car after incidents involving a Ford Fiesta and Nissan Micra.

The court was told Colley had been unable to steal the vehicles before setting fire to their seat covers. He had 52 previous convictions, including 10 for criminal damage.

The sentence followed evidence that Colley was arrested after being found near the incidents, with smoke smelling strongly from him and his clothing.