Teen set fire to hedge in Dundalk estate resulting in damage to home of garda

A teenager who set alight a hedge which resulted in damage to the car and a home of a Garda, which had to be evacuated as a result of the blaze, was placed under the supervision of the Probation Service for 12 months at Dundalk Circuit Court last week.

The now 16 year old, who can’t be named because of his age, had appealed a six month period of detention that was imposed by the district court for arson at Bay Estate, Dundalk on June 7th 2020.

State Solicitor for County Louth, Fergus Mullen, outlined how the juvenile had set fire to a hedge adjacent to the home of the garda, causing extensive damage to the hedge.

Damage was also caused to the garda’s private car and to the exterior of his home, which had to be evacuated by the officer and his family.

A Garda from Store Street Garda Station who has been the teen’s case manager told Judge Patrick Quinn, when he initially began working with him, the teen was coming to adverse attention every one or two weeks, but at one stage he had not seen or heard from him for over a year.

However, the court heard two separate matters are being processed by the Juvenile Liaison Office, where he was allegedly under the influence of alcohol in Dublin at 1.25am and 3.14am just over a month ago and the alleged unauthorised taking of a car from an underground car park in Swords last March.

The Garda stressed that the teen isn’t a typical young offender committing crimes with abandon and shows remorse.

The court also heard he had dropped out of school but is engaging with a vocational programme which focuses on pro social behaviour.

The Defence barrister stressed that his client had not deliberately targeted the garda or his home and he was ‘extremely unlucky’ when the fire took hold as weather conditions were exceptionally dry at the time.

Judge Quinn, who said it was heartbreaking to hear the teen has been in trouble, he substituted the six months detention imposed in the district court with being placed under the supervision of the Probation Service for 12 months.