Teen jailed for arson and golf-club attack on petrol station

A teenager who set fire to a car wash in a petrol station and robbed the same shop 18 months later armed with a golf club has been sentenced to four years in prison by Judge Desmond Hogan.

Niall Healy (aged 21), of Woodview Estate, Lucan, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to arson of the Maxol Service Station on the Cellbridge Road on May 2, 2005 and robbery of it on December 5, 2006.

Garda Ernie Henderson accepted in cross-examination from defence counsel Mr Bernard Condon BL, that the robbery "was not the most well-thought in the world ever".

Healy caused over €72,000 worth of damage to the newly installed machine after he and an accomplice set fire to rubbish surrounding it. His co-accused was dealt with under the Juvenile Liaison Scheme.

In December the following year, staff members in Maxol pressed the panic alarm when they spotted Healy and another teenager coming across the forecourt carrying golf clubs. The pair then covered their faces with scarves before Healy smashed the till with the club and they fled with €820 in cash.

Judge Hogan said Healy’s casual approach to the arson offences showed "a total disregard for the consequences and an abandonment of any form of realism".

He said the fact that the fire was started in an area containing petrol and other highly inflammable liquids put many people in the locality at considerable risk.

He accepted evidence from Healy’s adoptive father whom he praised for standing by his son "under circumstance of provocation and annoyance".

Judge Hogan also said that Healy "must have a certain reputation in the garage" because the staff there were able to anticipate his actions.

He suspended the last 12 months of the sentence on condition that Healy keep the peace and be of good behaviour for four years and attend drug and alcohol treatment under the supervision of the probation service.

Gda Henderson told Ms Mary Rose Gearty BL, prosecuting, that Healy had 15 previous convictions for mainly public order and criminal damage offences.

He was on patrol in the Cellbridge Road area when he noticed Healy and his co-accused running with the golf clubs. He gave chase after the pair refused to stop when told to do so.

The culprits discarded their clothing as they were trying to get away but Gda Henderson retrieved them and used them later to identify the culprits on CCTV footage.

Both Healy and his co-accused were arrested by another team of gardaí after they were caught hiding in bushes along by the footbridge over the Lucan by pass. They had €720 from the robbery on them.

Gda Henderson agreed with Mr Condon that Healy told gardaí he had taken 40 dalmaine tablets the day of the robbery.

Garda Mark Whelan said that Healy and another teenager were spotted by a local man running from the scene of the fire in May 2005.

Healy was later stopped by gardaí with dirt on his face and hands. He admitted to setting fire to "a load of rubbish" surrounding the car wash.

Healy’s father told Judge Hogan that his son had "a streak of decency in him" although he started causing trouble after he "went off the rails" as a 15-year-old.

He said his responsibilities towards his son still continues and he and his wife will support him but added that he needs help.