A pensioner who sabotaged the gas supply of a busy community centre just days after the horrific Creeslough explosion which left ten people dead, has avoided going to jail.
Charlie Lynagh, now 74, took a corkscrew and punctured the rubber piping feeding Mevagh Parish Hall in Carrigart on October 22, 2022.
Lynagh appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court where he pleaded guilty to endangerment and criminal damages charges.
The court was told that there was the very real possibility that Lynagh’s actions could have resulted in an explosion.
CCTV footage of the incident was played in court showing Lynagh puncturing the gas piping at the centre which is next door to local primary school, Scoil Eóin Baiste and St John the Baptist Church, just after 10am on a Saturday morning.
Garda Matthew Burke gave frightening evidence of how the hall was used on a regular basis by bingo-goers and by a local boxing club as well as for people gathering after funerals and other occasions.
“It is an active building and would be in use every day,” Garda Burke said.
He said Lynagh’s actions posed a very real risk of causing an explosion in the area.
Lynagh, of Tirlaughan, Carrigart, was even filmed removing a baseball cap he was wearing to loosen a tight valve so he could release gas from the piping.
Judge John Aylmer said there was a risk of the “whole thing blowing up” had some individual gone around the back of the frequently-used building for a smoke.
“You did endanger the community,” Judge Aylmer said. “It is true to say that thankfully nothing happened, but something terrible could have happened. The community would be very worried about someone puncturing gas pipes and creating that risk.”
The court heard how Lynagh cut holes in two high pressure liquefied petroleum gas pipes and then turned on the gas on the attached bottle, which created a substantial risk of death or serious harm to others. The charge is contrary to Section 13 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997.
Garda Burke told Ms Fiona Crawford BL, for the State, that Lynagh was taking time and effort to puncture a high pressure gas pipeline.
Damage of €400 was caused, with a refill of the gas costing €250 and repair work amounting to €150 for parts and labour.
When Lynagh, who lives approximately 1.5km from the hall, was searched, he was found in possession of a black corkscrew with a bottle opener top and a 40mm gold screw. The gas pipes were taken away for examination and puncture holes were observed.
After being arrested and conveyed to Milford Garda Station, Lynagh told gardai: “I don’t have to say anything”. He made no admissions to gardai.
Asked about the endangerment charge, Garda Burke told Judge Aylmer that there could have been “quite a significant impact” if the 47kg propane tanks did ignite.
“Our concern was, due to the use of the hall, that people may have gone out the back for a smoke and there would have been a serious risk of ignition,” Garda Burke said. There were also concerns relating to possible exposure of people to the gas.
Mr Peter Nolan BL, barrister for Lynagh, said the “unfortunate and appalling” tragedy in Creeslough had occurred less than 10 minutes away only two weeks before this incident. He said that in that context people would become alarmed at the thought of someone interfering with a gas cylinder.
Asked by Mr Nolan if the danger would have been minimal on the day in question, Garda Burke said it would only be minimal if no-one came around.
“It was by pure chance,” Judge Aylmer suggested and Garda Burke added: “There would have been a significant risk if someone did”.
The court heard that Lynagh has 35 previous convictions, some of which date back to 1972, including 19 for public order offences, four for section two assaults, four for the possession of knives or other articles and three for criminal damage.
A probation report said it was not possible to elicit a coherent account from Lynagh.
The accused claimed that “hooligans” targeted his caravan by throwing stones, which woke him up at night. He claimed that his windows have been smashed, said he lives in “constant fear” and that he has put on a steel door with a chain.
The court was told that Lynagh lives alone and remotely. He drinks rainwater from the downpipe and “washes himself accordingly”, the court heard.
Lynagh, who has had binge-type alcohol use, said he had paid for the damage he caused to the hall and said he was sorry.
The Probation Service placed him at a moderate risk of reoffending in the next 12 months and said it didn’t appear that he was suitable for community service. He told a probation officer that he was a qualified carpenter who worked in England and in the United States having been educated up to Group Cert level.
Lynagh said he was married and was later divorced, while he suffered a serious injury in a fall at a building site in the 1970s. Lynagh returned to Ireland in 1988 at the age of 38 and has not been able to find work. Around that time, he reached the threshold for the National Rehabilitation Board, but the court heard that nothing was ever done and he was left to his own devices.
A report noted that Lynagh has been regarded as “nuisance and threatening” and is barred from several premises in his locality. He told one medical expert that he has been “persecuted for 20 years”.
A report from a psychiatrist said Lynagh has been referred to mental health services “several times” since 2009.
He was described as someone with a mild intellectual disability, reduced learning capacity and a limited attention span.
The psychologist said the accused man did not appear to be someone with obvious signs of a psychotic disorder and the incident in question was not driven by mental illness or disorder.
Lynagh told his psychologist that he “just snapped at the time” he tampered with the gas supply.
Mr Nolan said the various reports “paint a picture of a man living in isolation and a man with no insight as to his condition”.
“He doesn’t know why he did this,” Mr Nolan said. “His memory is very fragile”.
Mr Nolan said his client has lived a spartan life and said a sentence had to be crafted for Lynagh. He said Lynagh has cooperated with the Probation Service and with any medical directions.
A recent psychiatric report said that Lynagh could benefit from community social work, a referral to the SMART Recovery addiction service and from going under the supervision of the Probation Service.
Mr Nolan asked Judge Aylmer to note the restrictions that a custodial sentence would have on Lynagh.
A charge of causing criminal damage was marked as taken into consideration while Judge Aylmer placed the endangerment charge on the mid-range and merited a starting point for sentencing of three years in prison “because of the level of danger”.
“I have to take into account to protect the local community in Carrigart from people like you creating that type of risk to them,” Judge Aylmer said.
While Lynagh has a long list of previous convictions, Judge Aylmer said he has not served a prison sentence and this is “the worst thing” he has ever done. Judge Aylmer noted Lynagh’s medical history and perhaps a lack of proper care being afforded, while he said the accused man has pleaded guilty.
The mitigating factors merited a reduction of the sentence to one of two years.
Judge Aylmer said he would hold that sentence over the head of the accused to give him a chance to “behave himself” and to engage positively.
The two-year sentence was suspended for a period of two years on condition that Lynagh entered a bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for two years. He has also been placed under the supervision of the Probation Service for 12 months and has been ordered to comply with all directions regarding his rehabilitation.
“If you get into any trouble, you will be brought back here and you’ll have to serve that two years,” Judge Aylmer said. “I don’t want to see you again and I hope you don’t disappoint me”,
Judge Aylmer told Lynagh that he should consider himself “very lucky” not to be leaving court in a prison van.
