A DONEGAL PENSIONER has told how her world was turned upside down when a gorse fire destroyed her home of 30 years.

Ann Beggs lost all her belongings when the out-of-control fire, which was started by former UK police officer Anthony O’Donnell, tore through her home on Good Friday, 2019.

Beggs’ home at Drumnacart, Annagry was completely gutted and three other properties were extensively damaged.

The 79-year-old O’Donnell, of Glen Lodge, Drumnacart Mountain, Burtonport, pleaded guilty to four counts of arson after over €300,000 worth of damage was caused. 

In a victim impact statement, which she read to the court, Beggs said her whole world changed forever by the fire on 19 April 2019.

“Fortunatey I was not at home,” Beggs said, “but my wee dogs were injured by the burning debris and I was heartbroken not to be there to protect them.”

Beggs said she was “left standing with only the clothes on my back”.

“I didn’t have a hairbrush or a toothbrush to call my own,” she said. “I did not even have my identity as all my documents were gone.”

She lived in the house for almost 30 years and all of her valuable heirlooms, photos, videos and other treasured items were destroyed by the fire. 

“I intended to have the items passed down to the family for generations to come,” she said. “I was left completely homeless, but thankfully I was insured and I bought a house in a different area. I still get pangs of homesickness, especially when I go to look for a particular item that is now gone forever. I will carry emotional scars forever.”

She said she took great pride in her garden and feels like she will “never cultivate anything so beautiful again.

Garda Siobhan Campbell outlined the case to barrister for the State, Fiona Crawford BL. Garda Campbell said that there were warnings in place, from the Department of Agriculture and Donegal County Council, about the dangers of lighting fires on the day in question.

Several people, who were returning from a nearby funeral, reported seeing a lot of smoke all along the N56.

The fire started at O’Donnell’s property and spread for a distance of up to six miles, straddling a series of townlands, the court heard.

One couple reported that they were coming back from a hospital appointment when they saw cardboard boxes on fire beside O’Donnell’s house. “The flames were spiking to a height and the fire was unattended,” Garda Campbell said.

Another man said he saw boxes on fire “in a hollow” near the O’Donnell home on what was said to be a “warm, sunny day”.

The local fire service attended the scene and a fireman told how he walked up a laneway and the blaze had moved about a mile at that stage. When he went to assess the damage, he said the fire was “raging”.

O’Donnell was charged with four counts of arson, contrary to section 2 (1) and (4) of the Criminal Damage Act, 1991, all relating to 19 April 2019.

He is charged with damaging by fire property at Drumnacart, Annagry, to wit, the dwelling house of Ann Beggs, including the contents therein, and an oil tank with a combined value of €220,000. 

The defendant is also charged with arson and causing extensive damage to the value of €21,500 caused to the rear dwelling house of Eugene Morgan at Drumnacart, Annagry. 

He is also charged with arson with extensive damage to the rear of the dwelling house and garage of Stefan Bullon to a combined value of €70,000 at Rannyhaul, Kincasslagh. 

O’Donnell is further charged with arson, causing damage to a shed belonging to Nancy McLaughlin containing two vintage Massey Ferguson tractors at Drumnacart, Annagary. 

Morgan told gardaí that he had just come back from Scotland and could hear a cracking noise with thick smoke and flames coming up to the rear of the property. The fire was so bad he got his family out and he said he “fully expected the house to be destroyed by the fire”.

When he returned, the oil tank was burned, having just been filled with 500 litres of oil, and there was also fire damage to the rear of his house. 

Bullon told officers how he was living at the property with his wife and was clearing a garage when he could see the flames coming over the hill. They fled with their son and dogs and local people began to assist with fighting the fire.

The smoke damage was so bad when they returned to the property and a lot of equipment was destroyed. He said he was “very lucky” that the house wasn’t completely destroyed, but damage totalling €70,000 was caused.

The Massey Ferguson tractors in the shed of McLaughlin were valued at around €4,000 at the time. The court heard that McLaughlin has since passed away.

Local Sergeant John Joe McClafferty called to O’Donnell’s home and could see a burned area close to the property. Initially, O’Donnell told gardaí that the fire may have been started by a fly tipper or someone throwing a cigarette from a passing car.

When interviewed at Milford Garda Station, O’Donnell made “certain admissions” and said he had just wanted to burn “a few bits and pieces”. However, the fire got out of control and O’Donnell later told interviewing gardaí: “I am so, so sorry that people’s property was damaged. I feel sick inside.”

He said the east wind “just took over” and the accused man subsequently said he was “just burning paper”. The court was told that O’Donnell attempted to douse the flames with a shovel, but made no contact with the fire service. He told gardaí that he had no phone with him and did not know any numbers to call.

O’Donnell’s wife, Sandra Jane O’Donnell, was put in the witness box by Colm Smyth SC, barrister for the accused. She said she has been married to O’Donnell for almost 56 years. She outlined an incident that occurred around a year before the fire where a branch of a tree fell onto a trestle her husband was working on and he fell to the ground, losing consciousness.

“His whole demeanour seemed to change,” she said before outlining a series of medical issues suffered by her husband, including prostate cancer, kidney disease, and depression. The day before the incident, she said her husband and his brother travelled to Cork for a funeral. O’Donnell was in England at the time of the blaze.

“We are very sorry for what has happened,” she said, asking Judge John Aylmer to be as lenient as possible.

Smyth said the incident was “a very tragic incident resulting in considerable loss”. He said his client had minimal savings and is on €350 per week from a pension. 

Smyth told Judge Aylmer that the guilty pleas were entered on the basis of recklessness rather than intention.

Judge Aylmer said that this was “a very serious offence”, but added that it was readily conceded by the prosecution that it was a plea to recklessness and there was no question of the fire being started intentionally.

Judge Aylmer said that very extensive damage was caused to the four properties and this was “extremely distressing and disrupting” for those impacted.

“As we heard from Beggs, it was far more distressing to lose memories and property, her personal items,” Judge Aylmer said.

Judge Aylmer said he would have to balance the level of destruction and loss with the level of culpability. He said O’Donnell’s cognitive functioning was already impaired at the time and it was a case where it was difficult to assess to what extent the accused actually saw the risk of consequence on the day in question.

Deeming the level of culpability to have been “very low”, Judge Aylmer said it was beneath the custody threshold.

He said O’Donnell was “of good character” and worked in the insurance industry having previously been a police officer in the UK.

On each of the court counts of arson, O’Donnell was fined €1,500 with the total €6,000 to be paid within 12 months.