A homeless man who set fire to a bag of clothes outside a charity shop which set four commercial premises alight and led to the evacuation of nearby apartments has been jailed for five years.
David Canning (28) later told gardaí: “I am truly sorry for what I did, I wasn't in my right mind”. He said he had taken some “Up Johns”, which the court heard is a term used for benzodiazepines. He said he was having some family difficulties at the time.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that although a number of nearby apartments had to be evacuated because of the fire, nobody was injured. The total damage caused to the premises was €159,590 while the total economic loss was €318,000.
Canning, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to arson at Coolock Village Centre, Coolock on September 4th, 2017. He has a number of previous convictions but none for arson.
Considerable economic loss
Judge Melanie Greally sentenced Canning to six and half years in prison and suspended the final 18 months of that sentence. She said that Canning had “made efforts to ensure the fire took off” and said the risk the fire caused was “considerable”.
She said each of the businesses had suffered “considerable economic loss” and noted that staff working at The Discount Store also lost their jobs. The judge also noted that although a florist shop impacted wasn't considered a viable business at the time, the fire “was the final nail in the coffin”.
Judge Greally said the St Vincent de Paul charity shop “played a very central role within its community and that community was denied that service for a protracted period of time”. She added that all of the businesses struggled to regain the level of activity it had previously enjoyed.
Garda Paul Kennedy told John Byrne BL, prosecuting, that Canning was captured on CCTV footage setting the bag of clothes alight before placing something on top of it. The fire didn't take hold, but Canning returned with an object that was already on fire and placed that on the bag.
Canning was arrested that same day and made full admissions.
Gda Kennedy confirmed that Canning was known by local gardaí as someone who regularly slept rough in a tent in the area and as a person who had “addiction issues for some time”.
Luigi Rea BL, defending, said his client has since made efforts to deal with his addiction through a local centre. He said he is remorseful for what happened.
