A Donegal man who admitted setting his sister’s rented home on fire after she refused to give him money for drugs had to be removed from court after launching a vicious attack on a Judge who sent him to jail.
Glen Friel had appeared before Judge John Aylmer (pictured above) last week and admitted causing up to €80,000 of damage to the rented house in Killybegs.
He appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court after pleading guilty to setting fire to his sister’s rented home at Straleeny, Killybegs on April 22, 2020.
The 24-year-old had his case adjourned for final sentencing to allow Judge Aylmer to read a psychiatric report on the accused man.
Having considered all the facts, Judge Aylmer sentenced Friel to five years in prison with the final two years suspended.
However, after the sentence was handed down, Friel exploded into a fit of rage in court.
He began shouting ‘no, I’m not going to prison’ and jumped out of the witness box and ran to the top of the courtroom.
Judge Aylmer was forced to leave his seat as prison officers and Gardaí restrained Friel who continued shouting and trying to break free while shouting ‘f**k you’ and ‘b******s’ while he was being removed.
He was removed from the courtroom and taken to the custody cells.
Friel was expected to sign a bond to keep the peace for the duration of the suspended sentence but it was decided that the bond would be signed in front of the prison governor instead.
The court has heard in evidence how Friel had asked his sister to sell herself for sex to get him money for drugs set fire to her home when she refused.
The court heard how the 24-year-old accused arrived at the house and wanted his sister to give him money for drugs and even asked her to sell her body for money and threatened to kill her if she didn’t.
The terrified woman asked her mother to call Gardai and Friel then managed to barricade himself into the house.
His sister left the house which she had rented for five years and he smashed it up and after setting fire to the house, Friel also fled.
The house belonged to a local man, Conal Doherty, and was worth €130,000.
The court heard that €79,450 of damage was caused to the house and that the contents of the house was not insured.
When arrested, Friel made certain admissions and said he wanted to start the fire to bring him “joy and revenge.”
He told Gardai he was hoping to get revenge on his sister Linda as she had been a bitch to him that day.
“I do feel a bit angry but I’m sorry at the same time,” he told Gardai.
Garda Sergeant Stuart Doyle said Friel admitted starting the fire with a lighter but did not think he had started it in the bedroom of the house as the fire service had suspected.
The court was told that Friel, of no fixed abode, has 12 previous convictions including convictions for threatening and abusive behaviour, assault, possession of drugs and intoxication in a public place.
The injured party, Mr Doherty, did not want to come to court or give a victim impact statement.
Barrister for the accused, Mr Colm Smyth, SC, said his client had a number of issues.
He suffered from post traumatic stress disorder after his brother took his own life when Friel was aged just 9 and he was also sexually assaulted when he was a young boy.
He no longer speaks to his parents and had been living rough in Dublin.
Friel, who has been in custody since last October, took to the witness stand and and said he was very sorry to the man whose house he destroyed and promised to go to all appointments.
Asking Judge John Aylmer to be as lenient as possible, Mr Smyth said his client is indeed a troubled individual with a number of diagnoses including PTSD and a personality disorder.
He has expressed a desire to get back on track and engage with various agencies, Mr Smyth adding that if he does not he will end up in a very difficult position and his life will be cut short.
“He doesn’t immediately give one confidence but I think he has a lot of outlying issues,” added his barrister.
Passing sentence, Judge Aylmer placed it in the mid range of such offences which warranted seven years in prison before mitigation.
He said arson was a very serious offence which must include a level of deterrence and carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The judge said he considered the incident to be quite premeditated albeit contemplated within a relatively short time frame and came about in order to get at his sister who was refusing to provide him with money for alcohol and drugs.
In mitigation, Friel had co-operated to a significant degree with the investigation, had entered an early plea of guilty and had expressed remorse.
Judge Aylmer added that it was very clear from the psychiatric report that Friel is a very troubled young man who had a very adverse experience in his childhood.
The court heard that he was in care as a young person and the judge said it appears he resorted to polysubstance abuse at a young age while labouring under post traumatic stress disorder.
The probation service found him to be completely uncooperative and had not engaged with them.
He said it is regrettable that Friel had not cooperated with the probation service as it had left the court limited in what they can try to do, but added he is clearly in need of intensive rehabilitation.
He also said Friel has previous convictions but are minor.
Judge Aylmer said the court takes the view that the sentence has to reduced to take into account mitigation and he reduced the sentence to one of five years.
With having regard for the psychiatric report, Judge Aylmer said he hoped that after some years in custody and abstaining from drugs, Friel will come around to a frame of mind that will allow him to engage with the service.
He said he would take a chance on him and suspend the final two years of the five year sentence and ordered him to enter into a bond of €100 and ordered him to abstain completely from drugs and alcohol for the duration of the suspended sentence.
He also ordered that in the 12 months prior to his release, he must engage with the probation service and engage with mental health services while in prison and on release for a period of two years.
Judge John Aylmer thanked the prison service and Gardaí for removing Friel from the courtroom.