Garda\u00ed have arrested four men in the Midlands Prison on suspicion they were involved in a pre-planned attack in the jail last weekend that may be linked to the fatal firebombing of a family home in Edenderry, Co Offaly hours later.<\/p>\n
The house, in the Castleview estate in the town, was firebombed just before 8pm on Saturday. <\/p>\n
The fire took the lives of four-year-old Tadgh Farrell and his grand-aunt Mary Holt (60). The dead boy\u2019s grandmother, Pauline Holt, managed to escape the flames but was critically injured after sustaining burns.<\/p>\n
Garda\u00ed now suspect a man previously linked to the property, on Castleview Park, had earlier on Saturday instigated a group attack on a drug-dealing rival in the Midlands Prison. <\/p>\n
Detectives are trying to determine if the firebombing in Edenderry was carried out in retaliation for the prison attack, though other lines of inquiry are also being explored.<\/p>\n
On Friday morning garda\u00ed investigating the fatal fire carried out searches at three properties in Offaly and Kildare. <\/p>\n
While no arrests were made during the searches, a number of items were taken away for examination. Further searches and the first arrest in the case are now anticipated.<\/p>\n
Garda\u00ed investigating the attack on the prisoner in the Midlands Prison, Portlaoise, Co Laois, arrested four prisoners in the jail on Friday. <\/p>\n
The suspects are all in their 20s and 30s. The arrests were carried out by garda\u00ed from the Serious Crime Unit based in the Laois-Offaly Garda division.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll four males are being detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 at Garda stations in the Garda Eastern Region,\u201d a Garda statement said.<\/p>\n
The two Garda operations on Friday arise from separate investigations into two distinct crimes: the group assault on the prisoner in the Midlands Prison last Saturday and the firebombing of the Holt family home in Edenderry that night.<\/p>\n
Garda\u00ed in Tullamore investigating the fatal fire have strong suspicions the two crimes are linked. <\/p>\n
Developments in the investigations emerged as hundreds of mourners paid their respects at the funeral of Tadhg Farrell.<\/p>\n
Garda headquarters said the three searches in Kildare and Offaly before dawn on Friday were at domestic residences. <\/p>\n
The operation was carried out by garda\u00ed from the Serious Crime Unit, Laois-Offaly Garda division, supported by Special Tactics and Operations Command, Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation<\/a> and units from the Laois-Offaly and Kildare-Carlow Garda divisions.<\/p>\n