A man who burned his family home after his wife and children left him has been remanded for sentence by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on December 15th.
Gardai found James Byrne, who was a heroin addict at the time, sitting on a wall across the road, watching the council house, valued at £31,000, burn.
Byrne (36), of Glenavon Park, Ballybrack, Dublin, pleaded guilty to arson at his home on October 14th, 1995.
Det Garda Michael Hogan told Mr Brendan Grehan, prosecuting, that Byrne had argued with his wife and threats had been made. When she and the children left he scattered paper, poured paint-thinner around the house and lit it.
Det Garda Hogan told Ms Marie Torrens, defending, that Byrne had been abusing heroin on the day he burned the house down. When he lit the ??????????
Ms Torrens said Byrne had been a heroin addict for some time, but was now in a drug rehabilitation programme.