Doused himself in petrol at IPAS Centre

A KURDISH man, who spent four months in custody after dousing himself in petrol and threatening to burn down an IPAS centre, was set free at a recent sitting of Monaghan District Court, after receiving a back-dated prison sentence.

Hardi Abubaker Hama Ali (40), a resident at the centre, pleaded guilty to causing €200 of damage to the foyer floor at M Hotel, Kingscourt Road, Carrickmacross, on July 18 last; to having a two-litre bottle containing petrol for the purpose of causing damage; and making a threat to Saheed Tijani, a security guard, that he was going to burn the hotel down.

At the initial July hearing, Judge Raymond Finnegan was told that gardaí were called at about 5pm on that Friday by staff who were restraining the defendant. Garda David Moran said the man’s clothing was soaked and that there was a strong smell of petrol from him.

CCTV footage showed Hama Ali pouring the contents of a plastic bottle over himself, and the bottle had been located at the scene with a small amount of petrol still in it. Witnesses, including the manager of the premises and Mr Tijani, the security guard, stated that the defendant made threats to burn the hotel.

In a case that made national headlines, Abubaker Hama Ali was granted bail by Judge Finnegan but was unable to take it up due to him not being able to provide an alternative address.

At the recent sentencing hearing, Roisin Courtney, solicitor, told Judge Ciaran Liddy that her client, who came from Iraq, has mental health difficulties. The incident occurred after an issue arose at the centre. But the defendant had no lighter on his person, she stated, and didn’t mean to harm anybody.

Imposing a four-month prison term for the criminal damage, Judge Liddy backdated this to the time when Abubaker Hama Ali was taken into custody.