\u201cDebts, drug debts, and I know that for a fact,\u201d John James English told RT\u00c9<\/a> when asked why he believed the arson attack was carried out on the home in Waterford<\/a> city. He also believed he knew who was involved.<\/p>\n \u201cTwenty grand worth of a debt. Is that worth [four] lives, 20 grand? I am not afraid to say it; if I was I wouldn\u2019t be able to die in peace. My family is dead. It\u2019s unreal. Innocent children, the whole lot of them innocent,\u201d he said, saying his father was not involved in drugs or any form of crime.<\/p>\n John James English said that when his mother, Anne, was forced out of her house for about two months after it was petrol-bombed, his father, Philip, and stepmother, Kim, opened their home to Anne. She stayed there for eight weeks. <\/p>\n On Wednesday, Anne said her deceased ex-husband and his wife were a \u201cbeloved couple who never had any bother with anyone … the kids were their life\u201d.<\/p>\n [\u00a0Granduncle of boys killed in Waterford arson attack calls on perpetrators to hand themselves in<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Another member of the family \u2013 James English, the granduncle of Philip English \u2013 also spoke out, addressing the killer directly. <\/p>\n \u201cWe have lost a family now, wiped out,\u201d he said at a vigil for the family at the Sacred Heart Church, Waterford. \u201cPlease, whoever done it, be a man and own up to what you done.\u201d <\/p>\n Garda\u00ed believe the arson attack just after 5am on Tuesday that engulfed the home on the Birchwood estate was carried out on behalf of a family-based violent gang of drug dealers in Waterford who also have links to Spain<\/a>.<\/p>\n Suspects have been identified. Garda\u00ed believe the attacker, a male, was driven to the scene by an accomplice, possibly a woman.<\/p>\n The gang is also suspected of vandalising the victims\u2019 family car with paint in August 2023, throwing a petrol bomb at the house last month and attacking Anne English\u2019s home. The family had also been targeted by rumours and threats online.<\/p>\n![\"Floral](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/LE2NOW7ABR3TIA3EVCKRDINPTY.jpg\")
Floral tributes placed outside the scene in Birchwood, Waterford, which claimed the lives of two adults and two children. Photograph: Miche\u00e1l \u00d3 Scann\u00e1il\/PA<\/p>\n