A man has been jailed for four years for setting a house in Dublin on fire to put "the fear of God" into a 4-year-old boy who was asleep inside.
Robert Murphy, 31, a homeless drug addict, was on bail at the time of the arson attack in November of last year. He was today given a nine year sentence with five years suspended.
A passerby spotted flames and smoke billowing from the house at Kiltipper Drive, Tallaght on November 27th 2013.
It was the middle of the night -- the mother and son were asleep inside and he began banging on the windows to wake them up.
The front door of the house was on fire and they had to run through the flames to make their escape. The house and its contents were destroyed. Total damaged was estimated at €50,000.
31-year-old Robert Murphy admitted starting the blaze and said he did so because he wanted to put "the fear of God" into the then 4-year-old boy.
The judge acknowledged Murphy had mental health issues but said the offences were very serious.
Murphy claimed the boy's father had attacked him previously and frightened his own child.
Murphy has 60 previous convictions and has been in custody since Novemebr 2013.
