Homeless man remanded in prison until accommodation is found

A young homeless man who set fire to a hostel bathroom and threatened a fellow occupant has been remanded in prison by Judge Desmond Hogan until accommodation is found for him.

Judge Hogan said he had a "niggle" of concern that Kenneth Cummins (aged 21) would be "back on the streets with nowhere to live" if he released him.

He explained he wasn’t penalising Cummins, who has been in custody since December 2007 because he couldn’t meet bail requirements of providing a home address, and indicated he intends to suspend the sentence he imposes on the next date.

Cummins pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to criminal damage and making threats to harm or cause serious injury.

Garda Leanne McCarthy told prosecution counsel, Ms Mary Rose Gearty BL, that the man Cummins threatened outlined in his victim impact statement that he was his friend and that Cummins had been a positive influence on him while they stayed at the homeless hostel.

Gda McCarthy said Mr Francis Burke didn’t take the threat personally because he empathised with his friend’s drink problem.

She said gardaí arrested Cummins at Brentwood House, Rathfarmham in the early hours of December 8, 2007, shortly after he smashed a glass bottle over his friend’s bed frame and threatened him.

The former green keeper had left the hostel two hours previously when he did €550 damage to a bathroom by setting toilet paper alight.

He had moved to the bathroom to finish his cans of lager when Mr Burke told him not to drink in the kitchen.

Gda McCarthy said Cummins returned to the hostel, went to Mr Burke’s bedroom brandishing a wine bottle and had to be removed by the house manager after he smashed the glass.

Gda McCarthy agreed with defence counsel, Ms Lana Fitzsimons BL, that her client was "pleasant and very co-operative" and had started binge drinking when he was 15 years old.

She agreed that Cummins had told her: "Drink is the other side of me."