Firebug youth in ‘glassing’ attack while out on bail

Judge Rory McCabe had warned Ross McDonagh (19), of 127 Ard Alainn, Ballybane, that he would be going away to prison for at least five years if he did not work with the relevant services to rehabilitate himself, when he first appeared before Galway Circuit Court last November.

He pleaded guilty then to damaging by fire the Ballybane Neighbourhood Village Complex on November 17, 2012.

The sentence hearing was told McDonagh was with a group of other youths when he went around the back of the Complex and set fire to a plastic chair in a storage area.

He left the area shortly afterwards and the fire spread to the adjacent building which housed a Gala supermarket, five other retail units and ten upstairs apartments.

Detective John Lavery said it was "the luck of God" that no one was badly injured or even killed in the fire. The alarms had gone off and people were able to evacuate in time, he said.

Det. Lavery said the fire spread quickly and caused structural as well as smoke damage to the entire building with the total insurance bill for the damage and loss of earnings coming to €419,333.

McDonagh, admitted to Gardai that he had gone into a refrigerated unit and set fire to a chair there.

The court was told McDonagh, who was 17 years old and living with his mother at the time, had 16 previous convictions, had dropped out of school at 14, was hanging around with the wrong crowd and was drinking too much.

Defence barrister, Brendan Browne conceded McDonagh was out of control.

Prosecuting barrister, Conor Fahy said McDonagh’s bail was revoked last July and he was taken into custody after he breached some of the bail terms while awaiting trial for the arson charge.  The trial date in November was vacated when McDonagh pleaded, he said.

Sentence was adjourned to December 12, but on that date the court was told McDonagh was due to be sent forward to the Circuit Court again in January, this time charged with assault.

Judge McCabe agreed to adjourn all of the charges – which McDonagh pleaded guilty to –  for sentence to last Friday.

Garda Neil Lydon gave evidence then that McDonagh assaulted two youngsters at 12.40a.m. on June 21 last – while he was out on bail on the arson charge.

He said McDonagh was drinking with a group of boys and girls outside a pub in Eyre Street.  He became aggressive when a group of other young men said “hello girls” as they passed by.

He followed the other group up the street, threatening to assault one of them.

The group kept walking to avoid any trouble but McDonagh kept   following them and smashed a pint glass over one young man’s head.

The victim had to go to A&E where the deep wound was glued.

Reading reports handed into court, Judge McCabe said every chance had been given to McDonagh to change his life around but he had not availed of any of them and remained at a high risk of reoffending.

The Judge imposed a three-year sentence for the arson and a consecutive eighteen months for the assault. He suspended the final two years of the four-and-a-half year sentence .