Dublin man gets three years for setting fire to guesthouse
A Dublin man who set fire to a guesthouse while his friends were in an upstairs bedroom has been sentenced to three years in jail with one suspended for arson.
Craig McKeon (aged 22) set a spare mattress alight in the guesthouse's lounge after an altercation with the owner about being rude and refusing to co-operate with the receptionist.
The guesthouse owner told gardaí that McKeon "rushed" out of the premises minutes after the altercation as smoke began to appear from the lounge.
McKeon, of Neilstown Gardens, Clondalkin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to arson at Palmerstown Guest House, Palmerstown on October 10, 2008. He has 10 previous convictions including a 2005 drugs conviction where he carried out 240 hours of community service in lieu of jail time.
Detective Garda Steven Hayes told Mr Paul Carroll BL, prosecuting, that 16 of the guesthouse's 27 rooms were occupied that night.
McKeon initially denied he set the fire but later admitted his offence to gardaí when they discovered text messages sent from his phone detailing the arson.
Det Gda Hayes said McKeon had started the blaze using toilet paper and claimed he did it because the guesthouse owner made his "blood boil".
The guesthouse had a copy of McKeon's driver's licence on file because he'd stayed at the premises several times before the incident and this was used to identify him to investigating gardaí.
Det Gda Hayes said €66,690 of the €80,000 fire damage to the premises was recovered in insurance money.
The detective garda told Mr Carroll that McKeon had arrived at the guesthouse seeking to join his friends in their bedroom but was refused by the receptionist, who was concerned about the number of people already in the room.
McKeon became insulting and aggressive towards the receptionist but booked into another room.
His friend had to intervene before a fight broke out between him and the guesthouse owner, who had approached McKeon seeking an apology for his behaviour towards the receptionist.
Det Gda Hayes said McKeon threatened to shoot the guesthouse owner and set his place on fire before both men parted company on the landing.
McKeon, a father-of-one, lit the mattress minutes later on his way out of the guesthouse.
Mr Sean Guerin, defending, submitted to Judge Katherine Delahunt that his client had abused cocaine that night but had since made efforts to rehabilitate himself by going back to education and attending holistic therapy sessions.
Mr Guerin said McKeon had €2,500 in compensation for his victims.
Judge Delahunt suspended the final year of McKeon's sentence saying she would have given him two or three years more had he not made "substantial steps" towards rehabilitation in the time since the arson attack.
