A 28-year-old man whose son was killed in a petrol bomb attack in Co Offaly last December has been given a further prison sentence.
In January Aaron Holt, of Castleview Park, Edenderry, was jailed for seven years over a seizure of more than €32,000 worth of heroin near his home in Edenderry in 2024.
Mr Holt appeared before Tullamore District Court where he pleaded guilty to a separate charge relating to possessing drugs for sale or supply in 2025.
Detective Garda Joseph Bradley told the court that on 27 March 2025 he saw Holt in a cul-de-sac lane opposite his house.
Detective Garda Bradley said he was suspicious and later went and searched the area where he found a lunchbox containing 49g of cocaine.
The detective said he viewed CCTV which showed Holt at the scene and later generated a DNA profile from the lunchbox which matched a swab taken from the accused.
Holt’s four-year-old son Tadgh Farrell and the boy’s grand-aunt Mary Holt were killed when the house at Castleview Park in Edenderry was firebombed on 6 December last year
The court heard Holt had a total of 62 previous convictions, 14 of which were for drug offences, the most serious offence was possession of heroin worth over €32,000 in Edenderry in May 2024.
He was jailed for seven years.
The court heard how he was not due for release until December 2030.
Defending solicitor Aisling Maloney asked that the sentence imposed for this latest offence run concurrently with terms he is already serving.
She said Holt had three young children and had a life outside of prison, and she asked Judge Andrew Cody to consider not interfering with his existing release date.
She told Judge Cody that Mr Holt is doing well in prison.
She also told the judge that he might be aware that Mr Holt suffered a great tragedy through the loss of his son and aunt after being imprisoned and was refused leave to attend his son’s funeral.
She told the judge that Holt had pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity and had dealt with the prosecution in a very honest and forthright manner.
After Detective Garda Bradley confirmed Holt was out on bail from the High Court for the heroin possession crime at the time of the offence now before the court.
Judge Cody said he was obliged to impose a custodial sentence and it had to be consecutive.
He said taking all matters into account, including an early guilty plea, he was imposing an eight-month sentence which will begin at the end of the sentence imposed in January.
Holt’s four-year-old son Tadgh Farrell and the boy’s grand-aunt Mary Holt were killed when the house at Castleview Park in Edenderry was firebombed on 6 December last year.