Father set fire to his home with kids inside

A 50-year-old man set fire to his family home with his four young children inside but he got them out before the fire took off and went back into it alone in a suicide attempt.

That was the scenario described by Detective Garda Pat O’Connell at Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday. For legal reasons related to the identification of the children, the defendant’s name is not published.

The prosecution did not proceed with an endangerment charge. The accused pleaded guilty to a count of arson committed on the week before Christmas.