Man held in death of baby boy in Darndale fire attack

Gardai may charge a man in his 30s later today in connection with the death of a baby boy in an arson attack in Dublin yesterday morning.

Adam Lieghio (18 months) was pronounced dead at Beaumont Hospital at about 5 a.m. yesterday following a fire at his grandmother's house, at Buttercup Park, Darndale.

A man was arrested at about 11 a.m. yesterday and detained at Coolock Garda Station under Section 30 of the Offence Against the State Act. He can be held for up to 48 hours.

Gardai said he was not from the estate. Nor was he previously known to either the Garda or the family.

Det Insp William Redmond, heading the investigation, said the fatal fire started in the downstairs living room after a petrol-bomb was thrown through the window at about 4 a.m.

It followed an altercation outside the house about two hours earlier, although gardai are not at this stage connecting the incidents.

Three units of Dublin Fire Brigade attended the fire which completely destroyed the small house on the local authority Snowdrop estate.

Adam's mother, Ms Louisa Lieghio, who lives in another house on the estate with her partner, Mr David Moore, and her sister, Ms Lorraine Lieghio, was visiting her mother, Ms Margaret Lieghio, on Saturday night.

Two of Adam's cousins - Ms Lorraine Lieghio's children - Glen and Marissa, were also in the house. All five were asleep in upstairs bedrooms at the time of the attack.

The other two children escaped injury although their aunt and grandmother were treated at Beaumont Hospital for smoke inhalation.

The baby's father, Mr Moore, is understood to have been at a family gathering elsewhere in the city.

The dead baby's parents are in their early 20s.

Det Insp Redmond said: "The intensity of the fire was such that our members were unable to get into the house, but we understood from a very early stage that there was a child inside. However, my members were beaten back, as were a number of local people at the scene who tried to intervene, by the ferocity of the fire."

Fire officers managed to get in and took the baby, Adam, from the house. Following attempts to resuscitate him, he was taken to Beaumont Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The body was taken to the City Coroner's office where a full post-mortem was carried out by the Assistant State Pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy.

The scene of the fire was sealed off and examined by Garda forensic experts. When asked whether the child's death was being treated as murder, Det Insp Redmond would say only that it was a fatal fire "under suspicious circumstances". The baby's death was being investigated "as if it is a murder", he said.

The Lieghios are third and fourth-generation Italians, but gardai have ruled out any racist motive for the attack. They have lived on the estate for over 20 years.