Man cleared of throwing petrol bomb at Garda speed-trap van

A garda feared for his life when he was caught in a speed-trap van as a “petrol bomb” was thrown inside and yesterday a man on trial for arson and endangerment was found not guilty following a legal argument.

Judge David Riordan directed a jury to find Gareth Hill, of 26 The View, Gleann na Rí, Tower, Blarney, Co Cork, not guilty following legal submissions.

Ciarán Ó Loughlin, senior counsel for Hill, argued successfully that the defendant’s arrest was unlawful as the arrest was made for having a firearm contrary to the Offences Against the State Act. Mr O’Loughlin argued that a petrol bomb was classified as a firearm under the act, but that a petrol bomb consisted of a glass bottle with petrol and a lighting rag. In this case the article was made using a plastic bottle which could be classified as a weapon but not as a firearm on the basis that a plastic bottle would have burned out rather than exploded.