Man burned out car and garden shed ‘to get a buzz’

A pyromaniac caught setting fire to properties in Douglas, Rochestown, and Bishopstown in Cork City has been jailed for six years.

Labelling Paul O’Donovan a high risk to the community, Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin was critical of psychiatric services for not admitting him to a psychiatric ward. “I would have to ask, who is running the asylum?” the judge asked.

O’Donovan of 33 Woodview, Pinecroft, Grange, Cork, admitted arson at Melbourne Court, Bishopstown, Cork, and related offences on July 10, 2016. He carried out similar offences around the same time in Douglas and Rochestown.