A court has heard that a killer handed himself into Gardaí 10 years after a fire claimed the lives of a father and daughter because he "couldn't live with the guilt of what happened."
37-year-old Philip Griffin of no fixed abode but originally from Tralee had previously pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Anthony O'Brien and his five-year-old daughter Nadine at Killeen Heights, Tralee on May 12, 2012.
The Central Criminal Court heard yesterday that after Anthony O'Brien had seen to his wife Kelly's escape, he and his daughter were found wrapped in one another's arms when fire crews entered their smoke-filled house.
Kelly O'Brien delivered a statement at the sentencing hearing for Philip Griffin, stating she had spent years insisting the fire had been started deliberately but Gardaí had insisted it was an accident.
A third charge relating to starting the fire was not pursued.
The court heard that the investigation into the house fire went nowhere for ten years until May 2022 when Philip Griffin made a voluntary statement to Gardaí.
He told detectives that he and another named individual had climbed through a downstairs window of the O'Brien home in the early hours of the morning.
He said the other man used a cigarette lighter to set fire to a couch before both men made their escape.
The smoke from the fire caused the deaths of Anthony and Nadine while Kelly O'Brien managed to escape when her husband lowered her to the ground from an upstairs window.
The court heard that the previous day, there had been an altercation between Philip Griffin, Mr O'Brien, and others regarding payment for a €50 bag of cocaine.
Philip Griffin's barrister Brendan Grehan said his client went to Gardai because he "couldn't live with the guilt of what happened".
Mr Grehan said his client wants to apologise to the O'Brien family and to be "locked up" for what he did.
Kelly O'Brien said she spent 12 years in and out of mental health units, unable to take care of her surviving family.
She told Philip Griffin, who appeared via video-link from prison because he did not want to be present in court, that he had killed an innocent child and a good father, who had never wronged him but only ever helped him out.
Detective Sergeant Ernie Henderson agreed with Mr Grehan that no accelerant was used and that the file on the case was "closed" following an inquest in 2013 which found no evidence to support a criminal act.
Roisin Lacey, senior counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the DPP's view is that the offence warrants a sentence of between four and ten years.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott will pass sentence on Thursday this week.
