Killer of father and daughter handed himself into Gardaí 10 years after fatal fire as he "couldn't live with the guilt"

A killer handed himself into Gardaí 10 years after a fire that claimed the lives of a brave father and his cherished daughter because he "couldn't live with the guilt of what happened" and now wants to be locked up, a court has heard.

The Central Criminal Court heard on Monday that after he had seen to his wife's escape, Anthony O'Brien and his five-year-old daughter Nadine were found wrapped in one another's arms when fire crews battled their way into the smoke-filled house.

Kelly O'Brien delivered a statement at a sentencing hearing for Philip Griffin, telling the court that she spent years insisting the fire had been started deliberately but Gardaí had insisted it was an accident.

READ MORE: Mother who killed baby son before taking own life wrote note saying child was 'too beautiful for this world'

READ MORE: Friends tell how son was minding elderly father for the night when they perished in Tipperary fire

Griffin, 37, of no fixed abode but originally from Tralee in Co Kerry, previously pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Anthony O'Brien, 30 and Nadine O'Brien, 5, at Killeen Heights in Tralee on May 12, 2012. A third charge relating to starting the fire was not pursued.

The court heard that the investigation into the house fire went nowhere for ten years until in May 2022, Griffin made a voluntary statement to Gardaí explaining how the fire started. He told detectives that he and another named individual had climbed through a downstairs window of the O'Brien home in the early hours of the morning.

He said the other man used a cigarette lighter to set fire to a couch in the sitting room before both men made their escape through a window. The smoke from the fire caused the deaths of Anthony and Nadine, while Kelly O'Brien managed to escape when Anthony lowered her to the ground from an upstairs bedroom window. She fractured her heel in the fall.

The court heard that the previous day, there had been an altercation between Griffin, Mr O'Brien, and others regarding payment for a €50 bag of cocaine. Griffin's barrister Brendan Grehan SC said his client went to Gardaí because he "couldn't live with the guilt of what happened". Mr Grehan said his client wants to apologise to the O'Brien family and wants to be "locked up" for what he did. "That is his way of dealing with the guilt of his involvement in these matters," counsel said.

Meanwhile, in her statement to the court, Kelly O'Brien said she spent years insisting that the fire had been started deliberately but Gardaí insisted it was an accident. She said she spent 12 years in and out of mental health units, unable to take care of her surviving family.

She added: "Because of the defendant, I am able to receive justice, but the truth is, if it wasn't for him I wouldn't be here, we wouldn't be here at all. He had ten years to confess, he had his freedom." She told Griffin, who appeared via video-link from prison because he did not want to be present in court, that he had killed an innocent child and a good father, who had never wronged him but only ever helped him out.

She said: "You took away a good man, a good father, a loyal friend, who was brought up in the [family care] system and finally found happiness, a family of his own who he cherished. You took away a child so full of life, so young, so caring, so funny, who loved animals and music and who had the most beautiful eyes and curly hair. She loved her dad so much and he loved her. The only closure I have is that she died with the first person she saw coming into this world and sadly, he was the last."

Ms O'Brien also spoke of the horrifying moment when she awoke to the smell of smoke. She woke her husband, who opened the bedroom door, and was immediately "beaten back by thick black smoke".

As smoke filled the room, she said: "It was becoming obvious that we were about to face death, I was terrified for the safety of our daughter and we tried to calm her. He [Anthony] was so brave and calm in the hope of all of us getting out; he got us to lay on the floor with our heads down to help us breathe."

Mr O'Brien managed to open a window and lowered his wife to the ground, but he was unable to get himself or their daughter to safety. Ms O'Brien, having fractured her heel in the fall, said she knew something was wrong when she looked up but couldn't see her husband or Nadine. She screamed for help and crawled to a neighbour's home. The next thing she can remember is waking in the hospital surrounded by family, who told her that Nadine and Anthony were not going to make it.

Det Sgt Ernie Henderson told Roisin Lacey SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, that Griffin has 41 previous convictions, including for assault causing harm, robbery, escape from lawful custody, possession of drugs for sale or supply, criminal damage and possession of a knife.

Sgt Henderson agreed with Mr Grehan that no accelerant was used and the file on the case was "closed" following an inquest in 2013 which found no evidence to support a criminal act. The Garda agreed that Griffin had said he was sorry for what happened and that an innocent child had lost her life for nothing.

Ms Lacey said the plea was entered and accepted on the basis of gross negligence manslaughter because he failed to raise the alarm or do anything to ensure the safety of those in the house. She said the DPP view is that the offence falls into the medium culpability range and warrants a sentence of between four and ten years.

Mr Justice Paul McDermott will pass sentence on Thursday this week.

Join the Irish Mirror’s breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive breaking news and the latest headlines direct to your phone. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.