Limavady arson accused arrested based on the trainers he was wearing, court hears

A County Derry man who is charged in connection with an arson attack at a block of flats in Limavady earlier this week, was arrested after being identified by his footwear, a court has heard.

Darrel Toner was arrested at the scene of the oil tank fire at the rear of the a block of flats at Glenview Drive in Limavady during the early hours of July 20.

Coleraine Magistrates Court heard this morning that 46 year-old Toner, who also resides in the same block of flats at Glenview Drive, was wearing similar footwear to an individual who was partially seen on CCTV footage at the scene.

A detective constable said police attended the scene of the blaze shortly after 3.30am on Thursday morning following a phone call from the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.

The resident of a flat in the block told police that he had been woken from his sleep at around 3.30am after hearing a 'very loud bang'. When he looked out the window, he saw his oil tank on fire and subsequently called NIFRS before leaving the property.

The court heard that the resident had a CCTV camera installed at the rear of his property and while viewing footage on his phone, he noticed that someone had tampered with the camera at around 3am.

The camera, which had been facing out into his garden and onto his bins and oil tank, had been moved to face downwards towards the ground.

The suspect, who climbed on top of an oil boiler to move the camera, was partially seen in the footage.

The individual's legs were visible on the CCTV and they were observed to be wearing navy tracksuit bottoms and trainers which had distinctive lacing and a thick sole.

While police were at the scene, they observed Toner standing outside the flats wearing trainers which officers believed to be the same as those of the individual who was captured on the CCTV.

Toner was arrested and following interview was last night (Thursday) charged with arson endangering life with intent.

The detective constable told the court that there was a 'complex history' between Toner and the resident whose oil tank was set alight and that the accused was the subject of a restraining order of which the occupant is the applicant.

The officer told the court that there had been some contact between Toner and the occupant at around 11.30pm on Wednesday evening when the pair had met on the stairwell of the block of flats. At this time, Toner recorded the occupant on his phone as he tried to get into his flat. The occupant told police that Toner was wearing the same clothing as the individual who was captured on CCTV.

During interview, Toner denied any involvement in the arson attack and claimed that he had been watching television and dozing at home at the time of the incident. He stated that he had stayed at home all day and had only left the property to take his dog for a walk or to go out to the toilet, however he was unable to provide times for these. He said he only became aware of the fire when his dog began acting suspiciously and he went out to check what was going on.

Toner also denied moving the CCTV camera and claimed that his DNA would not be found on the camera or on a box of matches which were found at the scene. When shown the CCTV footage, the accused acknowledged that his footwear looked similar to his but denied that they were his trainers.

Outlining the damage caused as a result of the arson attack, the officer said that they were 'fortunate' the fire did not spread further.

He said one oil tank was completely destroyed as a result of the fire and two oil tanks nearby were also damaged. A window and blind were also substantially damaged however the officer said he did not know the total cost of the damage caused at this stage.

The officer said that while they had no independent witnesses who had observed Toner setting fire to the oil tank, they still had to speak to one potential witness. He confirmed that Toner, who the court heard has 143 previous convictions, two of them for arson, had been arrested based on the clothing he was wearing.

The officer said PSNI were objecting to bail as Toner lives within close proximity to the complainant in the case.

Toner's solicitor Paddy McGurk said that there was an 'unhappy history' between his client and the complainant.

However, he said Toner 'absolutely denies being involved in this very serious incident'.

Mr McGurk said the 'sole piece of evidence against him is based on the shoes he was wearing' however he stated that the Kappa trainers in question were 'very popular' and can be purchased from Amazon.

“There is no identification evidence, no forensic evidence – that is the sole evidence against him,” said Mr McGurk, who said it would be a considerable period before the case would come to court.

Applying for bail on Toner's behalf, he said he could provide police with a number of potential bail addresses.

Addressing the judge, Mr McGurk said: “Given the weakness of the case I would ask you to grant bail.”

The judge acknowledged that the allegation against Toner was serious however she said she was prepared to grant bail, with conditions, provided that he find a suitable bail address outside of Limavady.

Toner is to be released on bail of £500 to reside at an address to be approved by the PSNI.

He is not permitted to enter Limavady, as defined by the 30mph zones, and is not to have any contact, either directly or indirectly, with the complainant or witnesses.

Toner was also ordered to observe a curfew between 10pm and 8am, is to be electronically tagged and is not permitted to be intoxicated in public and is to submit to a preliminary breath test if required.

The case was adjourned until August 16.