A Donegal man was issued with a five-year criminal behaviour order (CBO) after being convicted of arson in England.
Gerard Doherty, a 53-year-old originally from Castlefin and now of no fixed abode was convicted of arsons at Southport Pier after a Liverpool Crown Court ourt heard that he plotted to cause £30 million of damage.
He was charged with starting three separate fires on the decking of Southport Pier in December last year and January this year.
Doherty admitted three counts of arson and was handed an 18-month community order with 80 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 25 days, in addition to the CBO.
The court heard that Doherty told police that the site was “worth £35million and would be worth £5million by the time he was done with it”.
As part of the CBO, Doherty must not enter Southport Pier; be in possession of any articles in a public place that may be sued to start a fire; or light any fires in a public place.
If he breaches the order, either by doing something prohibited or failing to follow a positive requirement, he can be arrested without a warrant and face up to five years in prison or an unlimited fine.
A spokesperson for Merseyside Police said: “The order is part of work by our new Merseyside Antisocial Behaviour Partnership, a pan‑Merseyside partnership uniting more than 20 key organisations, including housing associations, local councils and charities, to tackle antisocial behaviour across the region.”
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Chief Superintendent Karl Baldwin chairs the partnership, and said: “The sheer recklessness of starting fires means that such an order needs to be in place as a deterrent to Doherty.
“The consequences of his actions could have been devastating, like any arson carried out in our communities.
“CBOs and other preventative orders need multi-agency working to be achieved, and are powerful tools in dealing with antisocial behaviour.
“Such effective joined up working is why the MASP was set up, and we will continue to share information between the agencies, and use all tools available to stop problems from escalating, and tackle anti-social behaviour where you are.
“When the public asks ‘who is responsible for dealing with antisocial behaviour’, we are striving for the answer to be ‘we all are: together’ so keep reporting issues to us and we will take action.”