A teenager who set fire to a mentally-retarded pensioner in Cork last year was given a two-month suspended detention sentence after a court heard that he had turned his life around.
The juvenile - who cannot be named for legal reasons - came before Judge Terence Finn at Clonakilty District Court yesterday, some eight months after he pleaded guilty to setting fire to Denis O'Driscoll.
The 71-year-old pensioner, who had a mental age of just 10 years, was the target of the 16-year-old's "prank" which left him engulfed in flames at a chip shop in Dunmanway, west Cork, on March 8th, 2002.
The court was told the youth had spent the last year under the supervision of the Probation and Welfare Service, and had spent the time "rebuilding his self-esteem". His defence counsel said that he had been on a merry-go-round of alcohol and bad company, but they had been removed from his life.
Judge Finn said the probation report was very favourable and that it recommended the court give the teenager a chance to turn his life around.
"The facts that were outlined to me last November were very serious and I would have considered an active custodial sentence," Judge Finn said.
The juvenile used a cigarette lighter to set fire to loose threads hanging from the pensioner's coat as he queued for his food.
He was immediately engulfed in flames and was only saved when quick-thinking staff in the chipper rushed to his aid and extinguished the fire.
The man, who was very popular in west Cork, died some months later, though the court heard his death was in no way linked to the attack in March.