Local man jailed for 6 years for arson attack

Liberties local man David Flynn (42) has been sentenced to 6 years in prison after pleading guilty to an arson attack on a head shop in Dublin on the 12th of February 2010.

Flynn, who is a father of three, was seen on CCTV along with another man moments before a massive blaze took over the building on Capel Street in Dublin’s inner city.

The Nirvana head shop suffered damages of €1 million as it took five Dublin Fire Brigade units to bring the blaze under control. Residents near the site had to be evacuated from their houses.

Flynn, who resides in York Street, has 65 previous convictions including robbery and criminal damage.

It is believed that Flynn had held a grudge against the head shop as he believed they had sold the drugs to his brother which ultimately led to his death in 2010.

Judge Martin Nolan reiterated this during the sentencing and commented on how Flynn’s plan had ‘’worked only too well.”.

An alarm company informed the Nirvana head shop owner of the fire to his business.  A sum of  €484,000 was found in a safe in a nearby head shop named Souvenir Seeds Store by fire fighters.

The high quality CCTV footage showed Flynn entering the premises through the back door with bolt cutters.

According to detective Garda Eoin Colbert, the sentenced man is a former heroin addict who decided to get off the drug after seeing what it did to his brother. He proceeded by fleeing the country after the arson attack before eventually returning to Ireland and handing himself in to Gardai.

Despite Flynn having stopped using heroin, Judge Nolan could not ignore how serious a crime this was and was forced to hand out a lengthy prison sentence.