A 20-year-old trainee electrician who admitted rioting and setting fire to a Luas tram during the Dublin riots in November 2023 has been jailed for three years.
Evan Moore, from Grangemore Road, in Donaghmede, Dublin, ignored messages from his mother, who knew he was in the city centre that night, pleading with him to leave.
The damage to the tram was estimated at around €5 million.
Moore was 18 when he went into Dublin city centre and took part in the riots on 23 November 2023.
At around 7.30pm he broke the windows on a Luas tram and brought a burning bin on, setting it on fire.
The service had to be suspended for 24 hours and €5 million worth of damage was caused to the inside, seats and wiring of the tram.
The cost of the clean-up by council workers in the day after the riot and the cost of damage to other property in the area totalled over €275,000.
Moore's mother texted him during the riots saying "scumbags wrecking their own city," but when she realised he was there, she pleaded with him to "get out before it is too late and something happens".
"Please, please leave Evan ... my heart is racing," she messaged him.
Six months later he was spotted by gardaí during another anti-immigration protest and admitted he had been in the city at the riots the previous November.
He was arrested, his home was searched, his phone seized and he identified himself on footage which showed him bringing the burning bin onto the Luas.
Detective Inspector Ken Hoare agreed with his defence counsel that Moore was one of many young people who had "been whipped up into a frenzy" by ill-informed "malignant narcissists" and "horrific racist commentary" on social media.
Moore has no previous convictions and had never been in prison until he was remanded in custody for sentencing today.
His defence counsel also told the court that he comes from a good home but has brought "shame on his family" who are "appalled" at what he has done.
Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing said that Moore is a different person than he was two years ago.
He is attending school in prison and has a second-year college placement as an electrician when he is released.
Judge Orla Crowe said Moore was actively involved in the riots for over half an hour, chose to go into and stay in the city centre, allowed himself to be "whipped up" and has to go to jail.
The lawlessness in Dublin city centre, she said, arose from a very serious incident elsewhere and the emergency services were involved in a very serious investigation.
"Instead of being permitted to do their work," she said "they had to deal with a mob who rioted and looted".
She said the riots were the most serious incident in the capital city for years.
"It caused most serious concern to the whole country and still represents a stain on Dublin," she added.
She said he had an active role in rioting, arson and criminal damage for a "sustained period".
She took into account that he made admissions to gardaí, pleaded guilty and was 18 and "immature at the time".
She also said he is remorseful and comes from a "prosocial family" and is an enhanced prisoner in custody.
He wrote a "sincere letter of apology" and has completed an online anti-racism course.
She sentenced him to four years in prison and suspended the last 12 months.
