A mentally retarded pensioner was afraid to leave his home for several weeks after a 15-year-old boy set fire to him in a chip shop, a Cork court heard yesterday.
Mr Dennis O'Driscoll (71), was engulfed in flames on March 8th of this year after a teenager carried out the attack as a prank.
Dunmanway District Court was told Mr O'Driscoll escaped severe burns only because staff at the chip shop rushed to his assistance.
Mr O'Driscoll died three months ago. However, his death was in no way related to the action in the chip shop.
Garda Tim O'Donovan said the pensioner was very well liked by locals in the west Cork town where he had lived for many years.
"He was a big inoffensive man who had a greeting for everyone," the garda told the court.
The pensioner, who had a mental age of just 10 years, had gone to the chip shop on March 8th for dinner.
While standing in the queue he was approached by a youth who set fire to loose threads on his anorak.
He realised what had happened only when heat scorched through his jacket. The youth fled the scene.
Chip shop employees succeeded in quenching the flames, leaving the pensioner seriously upset but not physically injured.
The youth subsequently went to his local Garda station with his mother and made a full statement. He admitted using a cigarette lighter to set fire to the man's jacket.
The teenager - who cannot be named for legal reasons - yesterday pleaded guilty to a count of criminal damage on March 8th of this year.
The boy's mother had wanted to bring her son to the pensioner's house in order to apologise in person.
However, gardaí persuaded her not to as they felt Mr O'Driscoll would be very scared of the teenager.
Compensation was paid to the 71-year-old victim on behalf of the defendant's family.
The youth at the centre of the case never came to the attention of gardaí prior to this incident.
He claimed the events of March 8th were "only a skit" adding he had tried his best to put out the flames once he realised the serious nature of his actions. He insisted he fled simply because he was upset.
Judge Terence Finn was told that the teenager had been drinking heavily in the weeks before the offence and was hanging around with a "bad crowd."
In sentencing, Judge Finn said he had to take the guilty plea, lack of criminal record, and the payment of compensation by the defendant into account.
The youth will be under the supervision of the Probation and Welfare Service for the next year.
He remanded the youth on his own bond of €100 and an independent surety of €100.
He will appear before Clonakilty District Court in Co Cork on August 1st, 2003.