A 16 YEAR OLD Dundalk youth who set a younger boy on fire has been given a two year suspended sentence. The youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was also placed under a strict curfew and probation supervision by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
The victim, Anthony Cunnane, then aged 12, of Afton Drive, Dundalk, suffered burns to 80 per cent of his body and to 15 per cent of each of his legs. His face was the least burnt part of him.
He spent three months in intensive care and was fed intravenously. He suffered multiple shock, and epileptic and psychotic episodes during that time, Sgt Rodney Hodgkinson told the court.
Anthony might have died but for the action of Mr Harry McEntaggart, who threw himself on the blazing child and put out the flames, Sgt Hodgkinson added.
Last week Judge O'Connor said he intended to impose a custodial sentence. But he was told that the accused, who will be 17 in August, was too old for Trinity House detention centre for boys at Lusk, Co Dublin.
The only place he could be sent was St Patrick's Institution beside Mountjoy Prison, said Mr Eamon Leahy, prosecuting.
The defence counsel, Mr Ronan Maguire, argued that while St Patrick's had some teaching facilities he feared his client would suffer educationally and vocationally if sent there.
He suggested an alternative plan which had been prepared by his instructing solicitor, Mr Frank McDonnell, in consultation with the Probation Service, involving supervision and a curfew regime. Neighbours would quickly note any breach of a curfew, he said.
Judge O'Connor told the accused that if he breached any of the conditions, he would be put into custody.
He placed the accused under the supervision of the Probation Service and ordered him to attend the Dundalk Youth reach Workshop. He is also to reside in his mother's house and remain indoors every day between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. The case will be reviewed on July 15th next.
The youth pleaded guilty to maliciously causing grievous bodily harm to Anthony Cunnane in Dundalk on April 22nd, 1994.
Sgt Hodgkinson told Mr Leahy that the victim had been drenched accidentally with petrol while playing with friends in a shed. As he walked past some youths, the accused took out his cigarette lighter, held it to the boy's back and flicked it. Anthony was immediately engulfed in flames.
Some witnesses claimed the accused helped in the attempts to put out the flames, but the victim felt he had stood there laughing.
The boy was rushed to the County Hospital in Dundalk but was transferred immediately to the burns unit of Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Dublin.
He needed numerous skin grafts and had to wear special garments to protect his damaged skin. He was released from hospital in September 1994 and returned to school.
Last January he began to remove the protective garments but suffered emotional trauma because of it. He had become withdrawn and psychological problems had been detected.
Sgt Hodgkinson said the accused made two statements. He admitted the truth in his second statement three days after the first.
The accused's parents were separated and at the time of the offence he had been staying with his father who had been drinking heavily. The accused might have been drinking too, Sgt Hodgkinson added.