Jail for setting fire to cars that caused €50k in damages

A man who set fire to a number of cars for no apparent reason in the space of 20 minutes while he was high on cocaine has been jailed for four years and nine months, reports Eimear Dodd and Isabel Hayes.

Richard Kershaw (37), of Croftwood Park, Ballyfermot, Dublin 12, pleaded guilty to four counts of arson. Three other counts of criminal damage were taken into consideration by the court.

Kershaw has 45 previous District Court convictions, including 33 for road traffic offences.

Sentencing him on Friday, Judge Martin Nolan said that the damage to the vehicles and the loss accrued by the injured parties amounted to about €50,000.

“Why he did it is not clear,” Judge Nolan said. “He had no personal animus towards the victims from what can be gleaned from the evidence.”

He noted Kershaw has a “pretty long” record of convictions but has not served time in custody before.

“The problem with arson is that when you start a fire, nobody knows where it’s going to end,” the judge said. “There could have been a lot more property destroyed or injury as a result of the behaviour of this defendant.”

He set a headline sentence of eight years, which he reduced to six, taking into account Kershaw’s mitigating factors, including his guilty plea, co-operation with gardaí, his work history and the fact that he lives with his mother, who is in poor health.

He suspended the final 15 months of that sentence on a number of conditions, including that Kershaw remain under the supervision of the Probation Service for a period upon his release from custody.

Garda Philip Nash told the court that Kershaw’s offending started around 12.45 am on January 12, 2025 and lasted around 20 minutes.

In the first incident, he had an interaction with a taxi driver outside a pub in Ballyfermot, then pulled the taxi’s roof sign off.

A short time later, Kershaw passed a Ford Mondeo and Volkswagen Golf, which were both set alight.

CCTV showed Kershaw stop at a nearby junction and look back at the cars on fire. Both vehicles were write-offs.

The windscreen wipers were damaged on a third car. A Skoda Octavia taxi was also set alight and had to be written off.

The court heard that it is unclear how the fires started, but each vehicle had its back window smashed, and it appeared some type of accelerant was used.

Kershaw then threw an object through the front passenger window of a Ford transit van, which was also destroyed by arson. There were tools and other items inside.

The rear window of a BMW was smashed after a rock appeared to have been thrown through it.

The court heard Kershaw was found nearby, around 40 minutes later, in a highly intoxicated state.

He was arrested, and his detention was suspended for six hours. Nothing of evidential value was obtained when he was interviewed.

Five victim impact statements were handed to the court and not read aloud.

Gda Nash agreed with Nicola Cox BL, defending, that some witnesses said that her client looked like he was on drugs and seemed incoherent.

It was also accepted that Kershaw has no previous similar convictions, lives in the local community and was easily identified as he was wearing distinctive clothing.

Ms Cox submitted this was an “unusual” offence which had “no rhyme or reason” behind it.

She said her instructions are that Kershaw was taking around €100 of cocaine a day at the time and has a poor recollection of the night.

She said he recognises how serious the offending is and that it’s lucky that no one was hurt.

Counsel said her instructions are that Kershaw was also experiencing mental health issues at the time.

He has since addressed his addiction issues by attending residential treatment.

Ms Cox submitted to the court that her client’s offending was linked to his addiction and a mental health crisis, but he has since been proactive in terms of his attempts to rehabilitate.

He has a good work history and is assisting his mother, who is in poor health.