A 37-year-old man, who pleaded guilty to killing a father and his young daughter in a house fire in Tralee, has been jailed for six-and-a-half years.
37-year-old Philip Griffin, of no fixed abode but originally from Tralee, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Anthony and Nadine O'Brien at Killeen Heights over 12 years ago.
Philip Griffin was accused of the murder of 30-year-old Anthony O’Brien and his five-year-old daughter Nadine after a house fire in Killeen Heights in Tralee on May 12th 2012.
He pleaded not guilty to those charges, but he admitted to manslaughter which was accepted by the DPP.
Earlier this week, the Central Criminal Court heard 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.
The court also heard that Philip Griffin handed himself into Gardaí 10 years after the fire because he "couldn't live with the guilt of what happened."
At the sentencing hearing on Monday, Kelly O'Brien stated she had spent years insisting the fire had been started deliberately but gardaí had insisted it was an accident.
An inquest in 2013 had found no evidence to support a criminal act.
In sentencing before the Central Criminal Court today, Mr Justice Paul McDermott said it was a case of gross negligence, rather than an intent to kill or cause serious harm.
He said that while Philip Griffin didn’t know his accomplice planned to set fire to a couch in the O’Brien family home, Mr Griffin didn’t raise the alarm or contact emergency services.
He said mitigating factors included the person responsible wouldn’t have been detected only for Mr Griffin came forward, and that he’d entered a guilty plea.
The judge handed him a sentence of 7 years in prison – with the final six months suspended.
Meanwhile, Anthony's wife Kelly O'Brien, says the sentence handed down was 'shocking':
