Case No. 1382Arson · Co. Dublin · 21 May 2025
Teenager charged with arson of Ballyfermot house that killed family's pet husky
A petrol bomb was thrown at the wrong house on Landen Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10 in the early hours of 21 May 2025, destroying the home and killing the family's pet husky in a mistaken identity firebomb attack. Two males, one in his 20s and a 14-year-old boy, were arrested in connection with the incident. The boy, who cannot be named, was charged with criminal damage by fire and denied bail by Judge Maire Conneely at Dublin District Court on 5 July 2025. He was remanded to the Oberstown Children Detention Campus, and the defence indicated the case is likely to proceed to the Circuit Court.
- Reportednot reported
- Arrested3 Jul
- Charged5 Jul
- In court
- Verdict
- Sentenced
reportedhappened, not reportedlatest stagenot yet
Key facts
consolidated from all reports- What happened
- A petrol bomb was thrown at the wrong house in a mistaken identity firebomb attack, destroying the home and killing the family's pet husky.
- Two males in balaclavas allegedly arrived in a taxi, travelled to the house on an electric bicycle, and one carried and threw a burning jerrycan of petrol.
- Where
- The incident occurred at a residence on Landen Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10.
- When
- The incident occurred in the early hours of Wednesday 21 May 2025, with gardaí responding to a report of a domestic fire at 2.28am.
- Other details
- A jerrycan of petrol was allegedly bought at a service station three hours before the incident, and the jacket the boy allegedly wore in the taxi was found during a search of his home.
- The teenager has no prior criminal convictions, showed no remorse during his interview, and was deemed unsuitable for inclusion in the Garda Youth Diversion Programme.
- Investigation
- Two males, one in his 20s and one a 14-year-old boy, were arrested and detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 at Garda stations in Dublin.
- Charges
- The 14-year-old boy was charged with criminal damage by fire.
- In court
- The boy was denied bail by Judge Maire Conneely at Dublin District Court on 5 July 2025 and remanded to the Oberstown Children Detention Campus.
- The defence submitted the case is likely to go to the Circuit Court.
23 statements extracted from the articles
- whatA petrol bomb was thrown at the wrong house in the early hours of 21 May 2025 (dublinlive.ie)
- whatThe attack was a mistaken identity firebomb attack (dublinlive.ie)
- whatThe home was destroyed and the family's dog was killed (dublinlive.ie)
- whatThe house on Landen Road, Ballyfermot, was left gutted on 21 May 2025. (irishtimes.com)
- whatOne resident was asleep in the living room and woke to the sound of glass smashing to find the room on fire. (irishtimes.com)
- whatTwo males in balaclavas arrived at the house on an electric bicycle. (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe defendant was allegedly the driver of the electric bicycle while his passenger carried and threw the burning petrol can. (irishtimes.com)
- whatA jerrycan of petrol was bought at a service station three hours before the incident. (irishtimes.com)
- whatShortly before 2:30am, two males arrived in a taxi, put on balaclavas and travelled to Landen Road on an electric bicycle. (irishtimes.com)
- whatThe jacket the boy allegedly wore in the taxi was found during a search of his home. (irishtimes.com)
- whereThe incident occurred at a residence on Landen Road in Ballyfermot, Dublin 10 (dublinlive.ie)
- whenThe incident occurred on Wednesday 21 May 2025 (dublinlive.ie)
- whenGardaí responded to a report of a domestic fire at 2.28am. (irishtimes.com)
- investigationTwo males were arrested in connection with the incident (dublinlive.ie)
- investigationOne suspect is a male in his 20s and the other is a juvenile in his teens (dublinlive.ie)
- investigationThe suspects are detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at Garda stations in Dublin (dublinlive.ie)
- chargeThe offence is criminal damage by fire (dublinlive.ie)
- courtThe boy was denied bail by Judge Maire Conneely at Dublin District Court. (irishtimes.com)
- courtThe boy was remanded to the Oberstown Children Detention Campus. (irishtimes.com)
- courtThe defence submitted the case was likely to go to the Circuit Court. (irishtimes.com)
- otherThe teenager has no prior criminal convictions. (irishtimes.com)
- otherThe teenager showed no remorse during his interview. (irishtimes.com)
- otherThe boy was deemed unsuitable for inclusion in the Garda Youth Diversion Programme. (irishtimes.com)
The reporting
newest first- 5 Jul2025Teenager (14) charged with arson of Dublin house shows no remorse, court hears
Bail hearing details including prosecution evidence of how the fire was set, the defendant's identification via taxi dashcam footage, and the judge's reasoning for refusing bail.
accused, 14, malevictim, malevictim, femalevictim, male - 3 Jul2025Pair arrested over firebomb attack that destroyed Dublin home and killed dog
Reports the arrest of two males (one in his 20s, one juvenile in his teens) detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984, and confirms the attack was a mistaken identity firebomb in which a petrol bomb was thrown at the wrong house.
suspect, 20s, malesuspect, teens, male