'Acting crazy' arsonist smiled as he set curtains ablaze after hoax 999 calls

Tom Tuite

A man from Athlone who was "acting crazy" and smiling when he started a fire in an apartment straight after making hoax calls to emergency services has avoided jail.

John Murphy (46) of St Ruth's Park, in the Co Westmeath town, who triggered a false alert that a man had slit his throat and was bleeding to death, was sentenced to 240 hours' community service and ordered to pay €5,000 compensation for the blaze.

Judge Keenan Johnson imposed concurrent sentences of 30 months, 18 months, and three years.

However, he suspended them on condition that the accused did not reoffend for five years, continue an education course and addiction rehabilitation, carry out the voluntary work as directed, and pay the restitution within three years.

Murphy pleaded guilty at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court to criminal damage and two counts of making false reports on July 30th, 2019.

The court heard he had been staying at an apartment at Glen Abhainn in the town and brought a friend over, and they began drinking vodka and whiskey.

Murphy asked to borrow his visitor's phone and made two calls, and "was speaking for a good while, and after that, he walked over to the patio doors and set the curtains on fire".

They immediately went up in flames while Murphy smiled at his guest, who got a kettle of water to put them out.

The man later told gardaí that Murphy was acting crazy and not making sense.

Local gardaí had also received reports from an emergency call operator at Harcourt Street in Dublin who received two 999 calls saying a man had cut his own throat and was "bleeding out".

Murphy gave his father's name, and gardaí went to his address, but found nothing amiss there.

On hearing the recording, they recognised John Murphy's voice and learned he had been kicked out of his family home a few weeks beforehand.

He caused €2,500 of fire damage, and the apartment could not be used for a week, leaving the owner at a total loss of €4,332.

Murphy had 34 prior criminal convictions going back to 2001 for public order, criminal damage, assault, obstructing gardaí and road traffic offences.

The defence stressed that the accused has not come to any negative attention since 2019, and a positive probation report was furnished.

However, Judge Keenan Johnson was unimpressed that Murphy, who is on disability allowance, had failed to come up with restitution in that time.

The court heard that it was due to his previous addiction problem.

The court heard he had a bad accident at the age of 14, which damaged his ear and ability to balance. He received compensation, which he "blew" on drugs and that then became his main problem.

It also affected his control of emotions, leading him to act irrationally, but he seemed to calm down.

Pleading for leniency, his barrister submitted that Murphy was willing to do voluntary community service and wished to integrate into society.