A man who was involved in setting fire to a stolen car which had been fitted with false number plates, has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.
Paul Crosby, 24, of Rathmullen Park, Drogheda, Co Louth, pleaded guilty to arson of the 132 registered Volkswagen Polo at Yellowbatter, Drogheda on 10 May 2019.
The court heard he was one of three people under garda surveillance.
The three had been seen trying to get the Polo started in the car park of an industrial estate on the Ballymakenny Road, Drogheda.
It was then driven to a field outside Drogheda.
The car the three men had been in - a BMW - was driven to a garage and petrol was bought and put into a water bottle.
One person got out of the BMW and went into the field where the Polo was set on fire.
The BMW was then driven from the scene but was stopped a short time later by gardaí, including members of the ERU and the three men were arrested.
The court heard Crosby had been a passenger in the BMW and had not got the accelerant or set fire to the Polo.
However he was part of the common design and joint enterprise.
Crosby has 40 previous convictions and had a cocaine addiction at the time and three of his previous convictions were drug related.
He had, the court heard, indicated at a very early stage that he would be pleading guilty and an apology was expressed to the car owner.
Passing sentence at Drogheda Circuit Court, Judge Baxter said that "the gardaí have to be commended for the level of thoroughness," of their investigation and Crosby was, "essentially caught red handed."
The setting alight of the car in the middle of a field was for a suspicious purpose and there had been extensive planning involved, she said.
Judge Baxter imposed a five year jail term with the final six months suspended on his entering into a good behaviour bond for 12 months and being under the supervision of the Probation service for six months.
