A WOMAN sobbed in court yesterday as a lawyer outlined events leading up to an arson attack in which a toddler was badly burned when his bedroom was engulfed in flames.
Four year old Conor Hanson was still critically ill in a Belfast hospital last night after last week's incident at Castledawson, Co Derry.
Ms Rachel McCaw (26), of Parkview, Castledawson, had been remanded in custody accused of threatening to destroy the home of the boy's mother, Ms Tracey Hanson, and intimidating her neighbour in an attempt to force her to leave her home.
Mr Justice Girvan said it was a tragic incident but it was clear the crown was not making the case that Ms McCaw was involved in the arson attack. He released Ms McCaw on her own bail of £250, with two sureties of £300 each, and ordered her not to try to make contact with Mrs Hanson.
When Ms McCaw applied for bail in the High Court yesterday, her lawyer, Mr Philip Magee, said she was not charged with any offence connected with the fire. "She has three small children of her own and considers what happened to be extremely evil and cannot understand how anyone could do that to a child."
A crown lawyer alleged that the day before the fire, Ms McCaw and two other people confronted Ms Hanson and told her she would be burned out. The fire was started early the following morning. Paraffin was poured through a bedroom window, which had been boarded up after an earlier incident, and set alight. Ms Hanson later told the police about the alleged threats made to her the previous day.
Mr Magee said Ms McCaw totally denied threatening Ms Hanson.