Breakthrough four and a half years after schoolboy killed in arson attack

THE family of a schoolboy who died in an arson attack were last night praying the first major breakthrough in four-and-a-half years would at last tell them who killed their son and why.

Stephen Hughes-Connors, 12, died on September 1, 2001.

He had told his mother he was sleeping over with a neighbouring relative but camped out with pal Darren Hall in a makeshift den built of wooden pallets and old carpets.

As dawn broke the hideaway turned into a fireball. Darren escaped and was found choked with smoke and frantic with panic.

Stephen was only minutes from the safety of his home but he was beyond help within seconds.

Almost immediately gardaí knew it was no accidental tragedy. Darren’s account of how the fire started and spread made it clear the crude structure had been deliberately set alight.

An investigation began and hundreds of people in the neighbourhood, the Dublin suburb of Tallaght, were interviewed. When CCTV footage was uncovered which showed a man approaching the den and hurrying away from it moments before it exploded in flames, it seemed the culprit would easily be captured.

But despite the image being broadcast on television and the likelihood the suspect lived nearby, no one seemed able or willing to identify the mystery man.

Crimestoppers, the confidential crime helpline, put up a reward of €6,250 for information leading to the identification of the suspect, but still gardaí received little concrete information.

On the first anniversary of Stephen’s death, his mother Liz, pleaded with the public for help. She said: “It’s just dragging on and dragging on. Stephen won’t rest until this is ended.”

The ordeal for the family dragged on until last year when local TDs Pat Rabbitte and Sean Crowe separately raised the case in the Dáil.

Mr Rabbitte called for an independent investigation while Mr Crowe claimed the chief suspect and his girlfriend had never been questioned by gardaí.

Last year the files were handed to Detective Superintendent Hubert Collins for a fresh inspection. He ordered the re-interviewing of locals and information was gleaned from a person not previously questioned.

The arrest of a 46-year-old man from the Ballyfermot area of the city yesterday is being viewed as a significant step forward.

Gardaí were never able to declare their inquiry a murder investigation because they did not know whether the culprit had any idea there was anyone in the den.

Stephen’s family were hoping yesterday’s arrest would begin the process of answering that and many other questions surrounding his death.