Man (33) who tried to petrol bomb neighbour's house jailed for 2.5 years

Niamh O’Donoghue

A man who previously discovered the body of someone who was shot, tried to petrol bomb his neighbour’s house because he was having a “psychotic episode”, a court has heard.

Gary Redmond (33) pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two counts of criminal damage and one count of possession of a hammer on June 4th, 2023.

He has 49 previous convictions, including three for criminal damage, and is currently serving an 18-month sentence.

Redmond, of Shelmalier Road, East Wall, Dublin 3, previously witnessed a traumatic event when “he came across the body of his neighbour who was shot,” his counsel told the court.

Sentencing him on Monday, Judge Orla Crowe said it was “unlawful behaviour” visited on the “blameless injured party”.

She handed down a three-and-a-half-year sentence and suspended the final 12 months of it.

Garda Charlotte Donne gave evidence that at 7.45am, the injured party looked out the window and saw Redmond shouting in an aggressive way to get into the house, and Store Street Garda Station was contacted.

Gda Donne told Brian Storan BL prosecuting, the injured party, who knew Redmond, said: “Gary go away, there’s a baby in the house.”

The court was told an English language student was staying with the victim at the time of the incident. The victim said Redmond was getting rowdy and shouting things at her. Redmond had a hammer and hit her Nissan Qashqai with it, and was kicking it.

He went away and returned some 10 minutes later, and there was glass and a smell of petrol. The court heard there was some commotion with screaming and shouting outside the injured party’s house.

She said he had a glass bottle and a tissue and a towel. There was damage to the wall of her house and a smell of petrol.

Redmond was known to her as he was her neighbour and at that stage he was “unpredictable, stumbling, slurring, and taking drugs at the time”.

Following the incident, the injured party said she was “terrified” and “doesn’t feel safe in her house.” She said she had a pain in her chest but did not seek medical treatment. She said her car was “in bits, with dents and scrapes all over it.”

The court heard €4,141 worth of damage was caused to her car and the victim said Redmond did damage to the wall of her house when he returned 10 minutes later.

Gda Donne agreed that the injured party said there was a child in the house “for effect”, but there was no child there on the night in question. He said his client accepted the damage that he did and that he was embarrassed.

In mitigation Redmond’s barrister said his client came from “a very middle class family” where both parents worked. He said his client had special needs, dyslexia and addiction issues.

He is now on a waiting list to go into a medical unit. He had been using drugs since he was 15, and his mother said his mental health declined because of the use of cannabis.

The court heard there was €1,000 in savings before the court as a gesture of remorse. He suffered a traumatic event when he “came across the body of his neighbour who was shot.”

Judge Crowe set a headline sentence of four years but having regard to the mitigating factors in the case reduced it to three years and six months but suspended the final 12 months of it.

The judge ordered that he remain under the supervision of the Probation Service for 12 months.