{"id":654609,"date":"2026-10-14T15:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T15:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/654609\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T15:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T15:50:11","slug":"granduncle-of-boys-killed-in-waterford-arson-attack-calls-on-perpetrators-to-hand-themselves-in-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/654609\/","title":{"rendered":"Granduncle of boys killed in Waterford arson attack calls on perpetrators to hand themselves in \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A close relative of four members of the family who died in an arson attack<\/a> in Waterford<\/a> city on Tuesday has called on the perpetrators to hand themselves in to garda\u00ed<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The murders of Philip and Kim English and two of their sons, Callum (12) and Jayden (9), are linked to a pattern of violent intimidation by a local drugs gang, garda\u00ed believe.<\/p>\n

James English, who is a granduncle of the English children, travelled to Birchwood estate on Wednesday. <\/p>\n

English, who is also the godfather of Callum, said the person or people responsible for the callous act \u201cshould be ashamed of themselves\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever done it should hand themselves in,\u201d he said. \u201cWhoever done this should own up, own up whoever done it. At the end of the day, we have a lot of a family wiped out.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was visibly emotional when asked about the medical condition of the two surviving children who were transferred to the children\u2019s hospital in Crumlin in Dublin following the incident. <\/p>\n

\"JamesJames English speaks to the media at the scene of the fire in the Birchwood estate. Photograph: Stephen Collins\/Collins Photos <\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not too good. She [the girl] is not too good, or the little fellow not too good at the moment. Both of them are not too good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jayden (9) had an operation on his heart just two weeks ago. He and his six-year-old brother previously featured on the social media of Bumbleance, Ireland\u2019s official dedicated children\u2019s ambulance service. <\/p>\n

In a social media post by Bumbleance in 2020, the two brothers were described as having been born with heart defects. It further stated the brothers shared the same \u201cchromosome disorder\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00c1ine Phelan, a Waterford<\/a>-based paramedic who previously worked with the service, said she had the \u201cabsolute privilege\u201d of travelling on ambulance journeys with Kim English and her children several years ago.<\/p>\n

When contacted, she said she had fond memories of her trips with the English family.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver those trips to and from their hospital appointments in Dublin and the time spent with them, we got to know each other so well,\u201d she said. \u201cThey were always brave and full of fun and they brought so much light and laughter to every journey. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere was always great excitement when the Bumbleance arrived back and a welcoming committee with Callum, Philip and whichever of the children that hadn\u2019t travelled.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she was trying to comprehend what had happened and added her thoughts were with the family in the \u201csad, sad days ahead\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Waterford house fire: Family targeted had suffered other vandalism attacks in recent yearsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Jayden featured on the Bumbleance Facebook page in 2021. He was pictured watching Peppa Pig in an ambulance on the way to Crumlin.<\/p>\n

His six-year-old brother appeared on the site on a number of occasions for various journeys to Dublin for appointments and surgery. The youngster was also pictured on a Bumbleance fundraising calendar.<\/p>\n

In 2020, Kim English paid tribute to the service in a post on the Bumbleance social media page. <\/p>\n

She said she had \u201cso much respect\u201d for the staff and crew of Bumbleance and appreciated them bringing her and her children to hospital \u201csafe and sound\u201d.<\/p>\n

Speaking after laying flowers at the house on Wednesday, the principal at Jayden and Callum\u2019s school said it would do everything to make school life normal for the rest of the pupils.<\/p>\n

Surrounded by a group of teachers who also brought flowers, Caroline Douris described one of the children as \u201ca lovely young fella\u201d and said the other \u201clights up the school every day with that smile as he comes through the door\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just want to extend sympathies to the community and to the family,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a very strong staff. We\u2019re very united, and everybody\u2019s willing to talk openly about the whole situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we\u2019re lucky from that perspective that we do have a wonderful staff, and the boys will be at the forefront of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

A community hub has been set up in the nearby Butler Community Centre, where councillors are available to speak to locals.<\/p>\n

Six psychologists have also been allocated to local schools to help support children.<\/p>\n

A prayer vigil will take place at Sacred Heart Church in The Folly, Co Waterford, at 5pm on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, more than \u20ac32,000 has been raised on a GoFundMe page set up<\/a> by a member of the extended English family. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Waterford arson attack: Garda\u00ed carry out multiple searchesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

All money raised will go directly to the grandfather of the deceased children to help cover the funeral costs and to support the family through the days and weeks ahead.<\/p>\n

Shannon Brazil, who is organising the fundraiser, posted that Philip, Kim, Callum and Jayden will \u201cforever be loved and never forgotten\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe pray for strength for our family and hold on to hope for the two siblings still in hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

Callum\u2019s soccer coach at Johnville FC, Alex O\u2019Sullivan, said he would be remembered for his bright smile and his work ethic.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe always put in the hard work. He was always a great listener. He always put in his absolute best.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said Philip and Kim would also be remembered for being very helpful, for always turning up on time for training and games, and for being \u201cabsolutely lovely people\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Drug-related intimidation: why petrol bomb attacks are becoming more commonOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Callum\u2019s parents had always said if club officials ever needed a hand \u201cto give them a shout\u201d, O\u2019Sullivan added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey always had a smile on their faces. They\u2019re absolutely lovely people; you wouldn\u2019t think for a second that anything like this happened anywhere, especially to anyone\u2019s family.\u201d<\/p>\n

The club is currently considering how best to offer support to its members. \u201cThis is still very fresh at the moment for us,\u201d O\u2019Sullivan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cClub activities are going to have to be cancelled for the next coming days,\u201d he told RT\u00c9 Radio.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A close relative of four members of the family who died in an arson attack in Waterford city…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[45,30791,61,60,43,6513],"class_list":["post-654609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-an-garda-siochana","tag-children-s-health-ireland-chi","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-waterford"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}