Jailed for setting fire to a home in Dundalk five nights in a row

A 41 year old man who set fire to the home of a Romanian family, he wanted to leave the street where he lived, five nights in a row, has been jailed for five years and three months at Dundalk Circuit Court.

The court heard there was a racist element to the arson attacks which ended with €420,000 worth of damage being caused to the house and an adjoining property in Rockfield Manor, Hoey’s Lane, Dundalk on September 20th 2021.

Judge Dara Hayes noted that Declan Clarke, who was living with his sister, took exception to a family from Romania living nearby.

He added there was some form of dispute with the mother and the children had behaved unkindly towards the defendant, an amputee with mild intellectual disabilities, and they had in some way been taunting or mocking him.

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When the home was first targeted a garda used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire which was started in an old buggy at the front door.

One member of the family sustained blisters from stepping on debris.

As part of the investigation into the final blaze, CCTV showed the defendant walking around the side of the property the next night and on another night, clothing was set alight in the kitchen.

When firefighters arrived on the scene, he shouted abusive words and referred to the victim’s nationality.

Later that night, fire crews returned and found three separate seats of fire in the upstairs bedrooms.

The following night, a fire was set alight against a patio door on the fifth night, a neighbour living next door raised the alarm.

Both properties that were damaged were rentals and aside from the cost of repairs involved, Judge Hayes said the landlords had lost the rental income.

The court noted Mr. Clarke’s own family home had been the subject of an arson attack in Drogheda.

The defendant’s left arm was amputated as a result of injuries he suffered as a teenager.

He had 29 previous convictions, and a psychological report outlined how he had a long standing problems with alcohol, cannabis and tablets. 

Judge Dara Hayes said in a letter of remorse the defendant described his time in custody as an eye opener and said he regrets what he did, all the more so because of his personal knowledge of being burnt out of his own home.

The judge said the primary motivating factor was Mr. Clarke’s dislike of the family and his “desire to have them gone from his road”.

This racist overtone and the fact that children were inside the home when the first fire was lit, were among the aggravating factors Judge Hayes identified, along with the defendant returning to the house on five successive nights.

However, the court noted an early guilty plea was entered following an assessment of the defendant being fit to give instructions.

Judge Hayes imposed a six year and nine month sentence backdated to October 22nd 2021, when Mr. Clarke went into custody, and suspended the final 18 months on the defendant entering a good behaviour bond, placing himself under the supervision of the Probation Service for 18 months after his release from custody.

It is also a condition of the suspended sentence, that the defendant engages with any counselling and treatment directed and engages with any offence focused work identified by the Probation Service.