Leanne Kelly jailed for six years over bus fire during Dublin riots

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

Leanne Kelly was jailed for six years for setting fire to a bus on O’Connell Bridge during the Dublin riots on 23 November 2023. She pleaded guilty to criminal damage of the bus. The proceedings were reported on 16 December 2025.

The court heard Kelly lit cardboard using a burning Garda car and threw it onto the bus. The empty bus was destroyed, causing €477,851 in damage. The court heard that rioters had earlier assaulted and threatened the driver, but Kelly was not involved in that group.

Before sentence was passed, Kelly told Judge Martina Baxter to “f**k off” and said she would not provide urine for analysis. The judge described the fire as “completely gratuitous” but accepted that Kelly was remorseful for her actions on the day.

Defence counsel John Byrne SC submitted a handwritten letter of apology. He said Kelly was under the influence of drugs, had gone to the riots to see what was happening and had no political motivation. He said she could not excuse her behaviour and, because she was intoxicated, could not explain why she acted as she did.

Judge Baxter backdated the six-year sentence to 10 October, when Kelly’s sentence for assault expired. The court heard Kelly had 66 previous convictions and had been in custody serving that assault sentence.