Two Dungarvan men have appeared in court on charges of arson, criminal damage and burglary at their local church.
Kevin Nolan and Stephen Foley were found not guilty of the charge of
arson after over two hours of deliberation by the jury at Waterford
Circuit Court.
The pair pleaded guilty to burglary and criminal damage
to a stained glass window to the value of €100.
The sacristy in St Laurence church in Ballinroad outside Dungarvan
was completely destroyed in a fire following a break-in during the early
hours of New Year's Day.
Ms Yvonne Keane, who lives near the church,
told the court that on the night of the incident, she noticed lights in
her house flickering and heard a bang.
A neighbour knocked on her door and told her the church was on fire,
so she raised the alarm.
The flickering was caused by flames from the
sacristy hitting electricity wires, she said.
Detective Brian O’Callaghan told the court that when questioned,
Stephen Foley admitted they he and Nolan had been drinking heavily on
the day in question and then went to a pub.
He said that he had a
further ten pints of Carslberg there and when they left, they went to
the church and they broke in, found the safe and tried to lever the door
open.
“We didn’t set fire to anything but I might have dropped a fag,” he told the investigating Gardaí.
Foley admitted that while in the church he was very “nervy” and
smoked a lot, and said he wouldn’t take anything from the church except
money because it would be bad luck. After leaving the church, they went
to another pub and had two more pints before going home.
Sacristan Kathleen Murphy gave evidence that she and her husband had
locked the church earlier in the afternoon and all lights and candles
were out.
Sub fire officer George Hamilton told the court that when he attended
at the fire, there was a lot of damage to the sacristy and the roof
area overhead was completely gone.
The whole church was smoke damaged,
Mr Hamilton added.
The court heard that Kevin Nolan had 47 previous convictions
including ones for larceny
burglary and criminal damage and both he and
Foley were remanded in custody for sentencing in July.