Seven years in jail for the assassin of a kid and a father described as a “joke”

A mom whose husband and child daughter have been killed in a home hearth screamed in court docket Thursday “it is a joke” after the double killer was jailed for six and a half years.

Choose Paul McDermott on the Central Prison Courtroom advised the household of five-year-old Anthony O’Brien and Nadine O’Brien initially of his sentencing that nothing he did would treatment their their grief and that the regulation was “brutal”. instrument” which doesn’t eradicate the struggling they proceed to endure.

He mentioned it was a “stunning and horrific case” however the sentence the court docket can impose is broad.

The choose famous that Philip Griffin (37), a felon with 41 earlier convictions, didn’t begin the fireplace which triggered the deaths, however noticed it ignite and go away with out doing something to to sound the alarm, though he knew there is perhaps folks inside. the home.

The victims’ households are left with a “burden to hold for the remainder of their lives,” he mentioned, notably Kelly O’Brien who misplaced her husband and baby.

The choose additionally took under consideration Griffin’s 41 earlier convictions, together with assault inflicting bodily hurt, theft, escape from lawful custody, possession of medicine on the market or provide, felony harm and possession of a knife.

Noting that Griffin had pleaded responsible to gross negligence manslaughter, the choose imposed an 11-year jail sentence. Nonetheless, he additional famous that the crime wouldn’t have come to gentle if Griffin had not come ahead 10 years later, in Could 2022, to confess to his function. Till then, it had been handled as an “unintentional hearth” following a discovering by the coroner’s court docket.

Making an allowance for all mitigating circumstances, together with Griffin’s expressions of regret, the choose lowered the sentence to seven years, with the ultimate six months suspended.

Talking exterior court docket, Kelly O’Brien mentioned: “I am in shock, disgusted. It is not like my baby died in her sleep. My baby wakened and needed to combat. “

She mentioned Griffin would serve not more than 4 years and 7 months and that the fireplace was “totally his fault, he concerned the opposite man, he introduced the opposite man to our home, he did not alerted nobody, he didn’t alert anybody. I attempted to place out the fireplace, it didn’t do something.”

She mentioned she fought alone for justice for 12 years whereas her kid’s killer was in a position to transfer on together with his life.

She added: “He’s a coward and I hope to God that karma will come again and he could have the identical dying that he gave to my husband and my baby as a result of, by God, they suffered and 4 years and 7 months, it is a joke.”

Philip Griffin (37), of no mounted abode however from Tralee in County Kerry, has already pleaded responsible to the manslaughter of Anthony O’Brien (30) and Nadine O’Brien (5) at Killeen Heights in Tralee on Could 12, 2012. .

At Griffin’s sentencing listening to earlier this week, the court docket heard that after guaranteeing his spouse Kelly’s escape, Anthony O’Brien and his five-year-old daughter Nadine had have been discovered wrapped in one another’s arms by hearth crews who had fought their method out. within the smoky home.

Kelly O’Brien, Anthony’s spouse and Nadine’s mom, advised the court docket she had spent years insisting the fireplace was began intentionally however Gardai insisted that it was an accident.

In Could 2022, a decade after the fireplace, Griffin contacted Gardaí whereas in jail for a separate offense to say he needed to make a voluntary assertion. He advised detectives that he and one other named particular person had climbed by means of a floor ground window of the O’Brien home early within the morning.

He mentioned the opposite man used a lighter to set hearth to a settee in the lounge earlier than the 2 males fled by means of a window. Smoke from the fireplace triggered the deaths of Anthony and Nadine whereas Kelly O’Brien managed to flee when Anthony lowered her to the bottom from an upstairs bed room window. She fractured her heel within the fall.

The court docket heard that the day earlier than there had been an altercation between Griffin, Mr O’Brien and others over fee for a €50 bag of heroin.

Griffin’s barrister, Brendan Grehan SC, mentioned his shopper went to the Gardaí as a result of he “could not dwell with the guilt of what occurred”. Mr Grehan mentioned his shopper needed to apologize to the O’Brien household and needed to be “locked up” for what he did. “That is his method of coping with his guilt linked to his involvement in these issues,” mentioned the lawyer.

In the meantime, in her assertion to the court docket, Kelly O’Brien mentioned she had spent years insisting the fireplace was began intentionally, however Gardaí insisted it was It was an accident. She mentioned she spent 12 years in psychological well being items, unable to take care of her surviving household.

She added: “Due to the accused I can get justice, however the fact is that with out him I would not be right here, we would not be right here in any respect. He had 10 years to admit.” , he had his freedom.”

She advised Griffin, who appeared by way of video hyperlink from jail as a result of he didn’t need to be current in court docket, that he had killed an harmless baby and a great father, who had by no means wronged him however l had solely helped.

She mentioned: “You may have taken away a great man, a great father, a devoted pal, who was raised within the [family care] system and at last discovered happiness, a household of his personal that he cherished. You took away a toddler who was so vigorous, so younger, so caring, so humorous, who beloved animals and music and who had essentially the most lovely eyes and the prettiest curly hair. She beloved her father a lot and he beloved her. The one conclusion I’ve is that she died with the primary particular person she noticed come into the world and sadly, he was the final.”

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Ms O’Brien additionally spoke of the horrific second she woke as much as the scent of smoke. She woke her husband who opened the bed room door and was instantly “pushed again by thick black smoke”.

As smoke stuffed the room, she mentioned: “It was turning into clear that we have been about to face dying. I used to be terrified for our daughter’s security and we tried to calm her down. [Anthony] was so courageous and calm within the hope that we might all get out; He made us lie on the bottom with our heads down to assist us breathe.”

Mr O’Brien managed to open a window and knock his spouse to the bottom, however he was unable to get himself or their daughter to security. Ms O’Brien, who fractured her heel within the fall, mentioned she knew one thing was mistaken when she seemed up however could not see her husband or Nadine. She screamed for assist and crawled to a neighbor’s home.

The subsequent factor she remembers is waking up within the hospital surrounded by her household, who advised her that Nadine and Anthony weren’t going to make it.