Dublin man charged with manslaughter of boy in hut fire in 2001

A DUBLIN man has been charged with the manslaughter of a 12-year-old boy who died in a fire 11 years ago.

Stephen Hughes-Connors died when the makeshift hut in which he was sleeping with a friend, on Rossfield Avenue, Brookfield, Tallaght, was set alight in the early hours of September 1st, 2001.

His 14-year-old friend managed to escape the blaze with minor injuries.

Dermot Griffin (52), Ballyfermot Road, Dublin, was arrested by by gardaí at Tallaght courthouse shortly after 10am yesterday morning, Det Garda John Stack of Tallaght Garda station told the court.

He made no reply when charged, Garda Stack said.

Mr Griffin appeared before Tallaght District Court at 11am yesterday, charged with manslaughter.

Judge Anthony Halpin remanded him in custody to appear before Cloverhill District Court on Wednesday next, November 7th.

An application for legal aid was made during the court hearing and there was no objection from the prosecution to this.

Members of Stephen’s family were in court and quietly consoled each other during the brief hearing.

The case was re-examined by the Garda serious crime review team in 2006.

Boy on an adventure night out died as den was engulfed

The young victim of the blaze died despite frantic rescue efforts, writes CONOR LALLY

STEPHEN HUGHES-Connors was aged just 12 years old and playing out a boyhood adventure when he was engulfed in a fire that took his life despite frantic efforts to save him.

Along with a friend, aged 14 at the time, he had built a den or play hut from timber pallets, carpet, old furniture and wooden doors.

It was the last day of August in Dublin and the boys were enjoying one last adventure just as their long school holidays were coming to an end.

They played by day in the makeshift structure built in an alleyway between a house and derelict shop on Rossfield Avenue, Tallaght, west Dublin. On the night of August 31st, Stephen and his friend decided for fun that they would sleep out in their den.

But at about 5am, as the two young friends lay sleeping inside their den, fire engulfed the structure and quickly filled it with smoke.

The boy Stephen was with awoke and managed to kick his way out as parts of the den gave way under his frantic efforts, but while Stephen could be heard coughing inside as the flames took hold, he never made it out.

His friend ran away a distance and, when he realised Stephen was not behind him, he went back to try to save him.

He tried to flatten the structure and pull it apart to create an escape route for Stephen, who was by now trapped inside a den engulfed in flames and bellowing out thick black smoke.

By that stage the fire had been noticed by local residents and a number of adults arrived on the scene to try to break down the burning den and pull Stephen out.

But they were beaten back by the heat and flames, made mostly from flammable materials, burned intensely.

The footwear of the would-be rescue party began to melt after sustained but unsuccessful efforts to kick down the sides of the den.

When the fire brigade arrived, the flames were extinguished and Stephen’s body was taken from the charred remains of the hideout he had been sleeping in just minutes earlier.

A postmortem revealed he had died of smoke inhalation.

His friend was taken to Tallaght hospital where he was treated for minor burns and smoke inhalation. He went on to make a full physical recovery.