A MAN who petrol bombed a car at the home of convicted murderer and gangland figure, Wayne Dundon, has been jailed for four and half years for the arson attack.
Marris Auzins (21), with an address at Lelia Street in Limerick City, told Gardaí that he was ordered to carry out the arson attack by criminals in order to reduce a €28,000 drug debt he owed an unidentified gang.
Mr Auzins, who was born in Latvia but who grew up in Limerick, appeared before Limerick Circuit Criminal Court on Tuesday (October 15) on a signed guilty plea.
He admitted one count of arson of a black 132-registered Ford S-Max car, registered to Wayne Dundon’s wife, Anne Dundon, on April 15, 2024, the court heard.
The car was parked in the front driveway of the Dundons’ home, at Lenihan Avenue, Prospect, Limerick City, in close proximity to a mobile home in which Ms Dundon’s daughter and her one-year-old child were asleep at the time.
Prosecuting barrister John O’Sullivan said Mr Auzins and another man, who was not before the court, torched the car with a “can of petrol”.
Gardaí who were on a nearby patrol saw the flames and chased both men, tackling Mr Auzins to the ground and arresting him. The other man escaped.
Mr O’Sullivan said that Mr Auzins “claimed he had no idea who the owners of the house or who the owners of the motor vehicle were”.
“The accused may have been targeted by a group of individuals indisposed to the occupants of the house, including the unfortunate victim of this crime; the victim is a lady in her early 40s,” said Mr O’Sullivan.
Detective Garda Fiona Reidy, Henry Street Garda Station, agreed with Mr O’Sullivan that Gardaí were satisfied that Auzins had been tasked by others to carry out the attack.
The car, which was insured for €6,000, was “completely written off” in the fire, Mr O’Sullivan said.
Ms Dundon declined to make a victim impact statement, however in her statement to Gardaí she said she was asleep upstairs in her house when she heard a “loud bang” and saw her car in flames.
Mr O’Sullivan told the court that “it was clear this was not a spur of the moment attack, it was planned, possibly by other parties and carried out by the accused”.
The court heard that Mr Auzins had 35 previous convictions, including for violent disorder, criminal damage, possession of drugs for sale or supply, road traffic offences, and, at the time, he was on temporary release from serving a sentence.
Detective Garda Reidy agreed with Auzins’ barrister, Liam Carroll, that it would be a “monumental act of stupidity” for anyone to carry out an arson attack at Wayne Dundon’s home.
John O’Sullivan emphasised that Anne Dundon was the innocent victim in the case who “owned this property and was entitled to reside there, as were others residing in the curtilage of the house in the caravan” peacefully.
Ms Dundon’s husband, Wayne Dundon is serving a life sentence for ordering the 2009 murder of innocent 35–year-old businessman Roy Collins.
Detective Garda Reidy agreed with Liam Carroll that Mr Auzins was “certainly not a mastermind”.
In his final submission, Mr Carroll asked the court “for whatever leniency you can afford Mr Auzins”.
The barrister said Auzins’ actions on the night were “absolutely reckless”, adding that “he was put up to this by criminal elements”.
He said that Mr Auzins “grew up in relatively poor circumstances, he didn’t have a father figure” and he “was preyed on and taken advantage of”.
Judge Daly said Gardaí were quickly on the scene on the night after they observed “an explosion of flames and heard a loud bang” at the Dundon home.
Although nobody was hurt, the fire was “in close proximity to the house and a mobile home, which were both occupied at the time”, the judge noted.
The judge said he could not allow Mr Auzins full credit for pleading guilty as “he was caught red-handed”.
The judge also noted that Auzins “did stand to gain from a reduction in a drug debt that he owed”.
The maximum sentence for arson is a life sentence, however Judge Daly said a headline sentence of seven years was “appropriate” and he reduced this to four and half years.
