Vital health files lost in arson blaze, court told

A city teenager has been sentenced to five years in prison with the final 18 months suspended for setting fire to the addiction treatment building in Merlin Park two years ago.

The building was set alight by a gang of burglars, who feared that blood left by one of them on a radio in one of the offices at the scene might incriminate him and link him to the burglary.

Alan Winters (19), from 90 Sruthan an Mhuirlinne, Ballybane, was the only one of the gang to be charged with arson. It was not his blood, but he did admit gathering papers to start the fire, even though he didn’t strike the match.

Winters refused to name any of the others involved in the break-in and arson.

Two other males were charged with burglary and one received a two-year sentence with one year suspended for that offence at an earlier court sitting.

Winters pleaded guilty before Galway Circuit Criminal Court to setting fire to the Community Alcohol Counselling and Treatment Centre on September 19, 2013, moments before his trial was due to begin last January.

He had pleaded guilty to entering the premises as a trespasser to commit theft there and to causing criminal damage to the property belonging to the HSE, but had denied the arson charge.

Sentencing in the matter was adjourned to last Wednesday for the preparation of a probation report on the accused.

Sergeant Emma Kerins told the sentence hearing she and two colleagues were on patrol on the night in question when at around 2am they saw large flames coming from Merlin Park Woods.

They found the building engulfed in flames.  The fire brigade was called but the premises was gutted, she said.

A number of people, including Winters, were later arrested and interviewed on suspicion of burglary and criminal damage at the premises earlier that night.

Winters admitted breaking a window to get into the Centre to steal small office items and he admitted seeing the building on fire.

Sgt. Kerins said that while the damage to the building cost €320,000, the real damage was the massive knock-on effect the arson has had since on people with addictions from Galway and Connacht, who had used the service.

“Up to 600 patients used that Centre every year and now everything is gone,” Sgt. Kerins said.

Referring to addiction counsellor, Joe Treacy, who was present in court for the sentence hearing, Sgt. Kerins said: “He used to treat up to 600 patients a year there.  All of his files, which were stored on computers, are all gone.

“A service that was invaluable to the community is lost forever because of this,” Sgt. Kerins said.

Defence barrister, Brendan Browne said his client was sorry.  He had started drinking at 15 and was drinking half a bottle of vodka and taking prescription drugs while associating with the wrong people at the time of this offence.  He had little recollection of what he did that night.

“It’s accepted he didn’t start the fire but he was involved in it. He has drink and drug issues himself,” Mr Browne said of his client.

Sgt. Kerins expressed concern that the young man’s mother had “an open door policy” in her home and that the undesirables involved in this offence were allowed hang around her home and come and go as they pleased.

“I have a real concern that his family would let these people stay in their home.  The door is open to these people to stay and they use it quite frequently.  The Juvenile Liaison Officer has spoken to his mother about this.

“I don’t know if she’s doing it out of fear but I know there is an open door policy in their house and that is quite worrying,” Sgt Kerins revealed to the court.

Mr Treacy told the court the loss of the Centre was devastating. “We lost everything.  It’s lost to the community that most needed it.

“It is his (Winters) own community that he has damaged,” Mr Treacy said.

He said he could no longer deliver the unique services the building had offered as it was in a discreet setting and in a hospital setting.

“The irony here is the accused has denied himself services that might have been of benefit to him,” Judge Rory McCabe observed.

Sgt Kerins confirmed to the court that while Winters had no previous convictions at the time of this offence, he now had six and was currently serving sentences totalling five months, (for assault, theft, robbery, burglary, criminal damage and being a passenger in a stolen van) which had been imposed last October in the District Court.

Passing sentence, Judge McCabe said it was an obscenity that the accused and others like him, saw fit to burn down a premises that was there to help people with addiction and health issues.

“Staggering collateral damage has resulted from this and it’s hard not to be shocked by the effect his misconduct has had on the services,” Judge McCabe said.

Noting from the probation report that the accused remained at high risk of reoffending because he refused to disassociate himself from the others and would associate with them again if released, Judge McCabe said a custodial sentence was unavoidable.

He sentenced Winters to five years for the arson charge and imposed a concurrent, two-year sentence on him for the burglary charge, while taking the remaining criminal damage charge into account.

The judge said he was suspending the final 18 months of the five-year sentence for three years, and placing Winters under the supervision of the probation service for 12 months on his release from custody, hoping he would tackle his addiction issues with the help of the probation service then.