A man from Co Down was found guilty by a jury at Galway Circuit Criminal Court yesterday of the manslaughter of three elderly sisters who died in a house fire on Inishbofin Island two years ago.
The jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on seven charges on the third day of their deliberations.
Alan Murphy (27), from Spelga Avenue, Newcastle, Co Down, had denied the manslaughter of Mrs Eileen Coyne (81), at Middlequarter, Inishbofin, on July 6th, 1999. He also denied the manslaughter of her two sisters, Mrs Bridget McFadden (80) and Ms Margaret Concannon (72), and to setting fire to Mrs Coyne's house on the same date, endangering the lives of the three sisters.
The 10-day trial had heard evidence from 50 State witnesses, mostly islanders, who recounted the events leading up to the fire. .
The court heard Murphy consumed 10 pints in the course of July 5th, 1999. As the evening wore on his behaviour in Day's pub on the island was described by some witnesses as "bizarre" and he was put out of the premises at 1.45 a.m.
He saw a porch light on in Mrs Coyne's house. The front door was unlocked and he walked in.
In a statement to gardai he later admitted being in a rage at the time. "I was mad at the way I was treated since coming on to the island. I could see a settee and long curtains. I started to light papers I found in the kitchen with a lighter I had on me. I started lighting the papers for a sort of revenge at the way I was treated in the pub. I had it in the back of my mind that it [fire] would take hold, but it didn't bother me then. I was not worried about the consequences. I was in a rage."
He went on to say that he was not thinking about anybody else being in the house. "I cannot say that it bothered me if there were other people in the house or not because I was in a bad mood. I felt everyone was against me. This was a way of expressing my revenge," Murphy said.
Judge Carroll Moran adjourned sentencing to April 24th.