A WOMAN accused of “solely” setting fire to a Dublin Bus, which was “completely destroyed” during the November 2023 riots, has been sent forward for trial.
Violence broke out after a girl, aged five, was severely wounded, and two other children and a woman were injured in a knife attack at Parnell Square in Dublin city centre earlier that day.
Leanne Kelly, 34, who is from Wicklow but of no fixed abode, was accused of torching the bus on O’Connell Bridge, causing €477,851 worth of damage to the public service vehicle.
She was charged last week and faced her latest appearance before Judge Michele Finan at Dublin District Court on Monday when gardai served her with a book of evidence.
The Director of Public Prosecutions has directed that she face “trial on indictment” at a higher level with greater sentencing powers.
Judge Finan acceded to a request from prosecutor Sharon Rossiter to grant a return for trial, sending her case forward to the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, where the case will be listed for mention on July 31.
When Ms Kelly was first charged in April, the judge set her bail at €300 and required a €3,000 independent surety, which had to be approved before Ms Kelly could be released under strict terms.
However, she had been unable to take it up and remained in custody since then.
Her solicitor, Niall O’Connor, asked the court to consider reducing the bail, adding that her client would be able to live with relatives in Co Wicklow and was a different person now.
However, Detective Garda Barry Brennan objected.
He agreed with Mr O’Connor that the bus had already been damaged before Ms Kelly allegedly got involved. However, he maintained that she “solely caused it to be set alight”.
He alleged the incident occurred during the “Dublin riots” and he claimed that at about 7.30 pm, Ms Kelly picked up a piece of rubbish and ran to a garda car that had been set on fire.
Detective Garda Brennan said she “extracted flames from the garda car onto the piece of rubbish and she ran to the Dublin Bus”.
The court heard it had already been abandoned after being surrounded by rioters.
It was claimed that Ms Kelly ran onto the bus and threw the burning rubbish on the ground.
TRIAL PLEA
The accused wept as she pleaded to be freed pending the trial telling the court: “I have no intention of f****** this up”.
She spoke out saying she had suffered trauma at a young age, was living in a tent at the time of the riots, and there had been a family bereavement while she was in custody.
Judge Finan decided to reduce the surety to €1,000 and emphasised that if taken up, she must obey conditions set earlier: reside at Kilbride Grove, Bray, Co Wicklow, obey an 11pm to 6am curfew, sign on daily at the local Garda station, and remain contactable by phone.
The charge under Section 2 of the Criminal Damage Act carries a possible 10-year sentence and a €10,000 fine.
Ms Kelly was granted legal aid and told she must notify prosecutors if she intends to use an alibi in her defence. gardaí were also directed to hand over interview videos to the defence.
To date, 85 people have been arrested in connection with the Dublin riots, with 66 charged.
Meanwhile, a man awaits trial accused of attempted murder of three children earlier that day at Parnell Square in the city centre.
