A Dublin man has been jailed after he deliberately set fire to an office, causing over €110,000 of damage to the property, in the mistaken belief that his ex-partner was having an affair.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Jason Ward (52) set a fire in an upstairs office of a property in Drumcondra, where his then former partner was working, under the mistaken and false belief that she was conducting an affair there.
The couple have since reconciled, the court heard.
This building contained a downstairs apartment, whose two occupants had to flee after noticing that a fire had started upstairs.
Over €110,000 of damage was caused to the building, including smoke damage to the apartment.
The tenants had to move to alternative accommodation for three months while repairs were carried out. In a victim impact statement, one of the residents said he is a heavy sleeper and only awoke because their dogs were barking, otherwise their “lives could have been in danger”.
He said he was surprised this happened, and he'd “never had a problem with anyone in my life”.
Losses
In a victim impact statement, the building's owner said he was relieved no one was injured, but he would “never forget” that night when gardaí knocked on his door to tell him.
He also said that a family member was facing a serious illness at the time.
The fire caused “some difficult months” for his family and business, but things are now back on track, he said, expressing the hope that Ward would get any help he may require.
The building's owner received around €90,000 from an insurance claim, but faced additional losses, including €16,000 of rental income while the building was repaired, the court heard.
Ward (52), of Wadriver Close, Ballymun Dublin 11, pleaded guilty to one count of arson and one of endangerment on June 1st, 2022. He has 14 previous convictions, including five for theft and six for public order offences.
Imposing sentence on Wednesday, Judge Orla Crowe said this offending was “deliberate, coldly planned and executed”.
She said Ward had driven a distance in the “deepest middle of the night”, used a balaclava, and purchased a small amount of petrol to use as an accelerant to set the fire.
The judge noted the contents of the residents’ impact statement and said the dogs barking had “prevented a much greater tragedy from happening”.
She said the building's owner was under “extraordinary stress” at the time due to their family member's illness, but that he had shown “extraordinary grace” towards Ward in his victim impact statement.
She added that his graciousness was “a tribute to his humanity”.
'Disregard for human life'
Judge Crowe noted that the outcome could have been “far more catastrophic” if the dogs had nbt become alarmed and barked.
She said Ward acted “without regard” for any person or property, causing huge damage and disruption to “blameless people” and displaying “disregard for human life”.
The judge described Ward's actions as “selfish”, “inexplicable and inexcusable”, adding that his reasoning for setting fire to his then ex-partner's place of work was “unfathomable”.
Judge Crowe said she took the mitigating features into consideration, including Ward's guilty pleas, expressions of remorse, efforts to deal with his addiction issues and references submitted on his behalf.
She handed Ward a sentence of five years with the final 12 months suspended on strict conditions.
At an earlier hearing, Detective Garda Raymond Lee told Jennifer Jackson BL, prosecuting, that Dublin Fire Brigade had extinguished the fire when gardaí arrived at the scene at 3.56am on June 1st, 2022.
One of the tenants told gardaí they were awoken and initially thought someone was going to the upstairs office. When they checked the time, they realised it was not the landlord and left the house to check, before returning inside.
They went upstairs, then noticed a small fire. They made an attempt to put out the fire, before raising the alarm and leaving the building.
Deliberate
Det Gda Lee said an investigation found the fire had been started deliberately with an accelerant.
The upstairs office was extensively damaged and could not be used for several months. Smoke damage was also caused to the downstairs apartment and the tenants had to move to alternative accommodation while the repairs were completed.
One person, who was then Ward's ex-partner, was working in the office and he was identified as a suspect.
CCTV footage was obtained and showed Ward buying €1 of petrol at 3.10am from a nearby petrol station, which he put in a bottle. His car was also seen parked near the building at 3.29am.
The court heard Ward is seen in this footage crouching to hide from a passing car, before putting a balaclava over his head. CCTV later captured Ward running back to the vehicle and driving away.
Det Gda Lee said the apartment's residents had received “unusual” Facebook messages about two weeks before this incident from an account in Ward's name asking about the building and the woman who worked upstairs. Most of these messages were deleted by the sender.
The court was told there were some difficulties at the time in the relationship and Ward mistakenly believed that his partner was having an affair in the office.
Ward was interviewed twice but denied any involvement in the fire. He identified himself on CCTV as well as his Facebook page.
Det Gda Lee agreed with John Moher BL, defending, that Ward outlined his addiction to cocaine during the interview and referred to his mental health issues.
A key worker with the STAR project told the court that Ward started treatment for his addiction issues in August 2022 and has made significant progress, becoming substance-free.
Mr Moher said his client wished to apologise to all affected by this “very serious matter”. He said Ward is ashamed and remorseful for his “inexplicable” actions.
His client was in the “throes of drug addiction” at the time and “succumbed to feelings of paranoia”, he said. He said his client has suffered from an incident of “drug-induced psychosis”.
Defence counsel said this was a “radical departure” when compared to Ward's previous offending. A number of references, an offer of work, a letter of apology, GP letter and a psychological report were handed to the court.
Mr Moher said his client is aware of the significant financial loss caused and was willing to make payments towards this amount.
