Man set fire to apartment after being asked to leave party

A man set fire to a woman’s flat because he was asked to leave a party there, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard.

Derek Murphy (aged 23) had been drinking heavily and taking “head shop” drugs prior to going back to the woman’s home. He went home “in a huff” after being asked to leave because of his behaviour.

Murphy of Cleggan Road, Ballyfermot pleaded guilty to arson at Sundae Parade, Mountainview in Tallaght on June 21, 2009. The fire caused €34,000 worth of damage.

Judge Katherine Delahunt said she wanted time to consider an appropriate sentence and remanded him on bail until January. He faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Detective Garda Henry Malarkey told prosecuting counsel, Mr Shane Costelloe BL, that the woman had gone out with friends after leaving her two children in her mother’s house for the night.

She met Murphy in a local nightclub and invited him back along with other friends to her home for more drinks. While they were drinking in the kitchen of her flat, Murphy was being “a bit cheeky and untoward” in his comments.

When the woman asked him to leave, he got up from the table and she assumed he had gone to the bathroom. Shortly afterwards he left the flat entirely without saying goodbye.

A few minutes later the group smelled smoke and followed it to the children’s bedroom where one of the beds was on fire.

The group attempted to beat the flames out but the fire spread and they were forced to leave the flat. The fire brigade arrived and put out the blaze. A technical examination confirmed it was started deliberately and Murphy was arrested soon after.

In interview he claimed he just remembers getting up to be sick in the bathroom. He said he recalled nothing about the fire and “would never do something like that”.

He accepted that he “left in a bit of a huff” and that he was the only person who could have started the blaze. He said he had being drinking heavily that night as well as taking “legal highs”.

Defence counsel, Mr Pieter Le Vert BL, said Murphy has no previous convictions and had worked consistently since leaving school. He said he is now attending a back-to-education course and also does charity work.

Mr Le Vert said his client took cocaine and cannabis in the past but was now attending drug counselling. He further submitted that Murphy could offer €3,000 in compensation if given time to get a bank loan.