Man remanded in custody over arson attack

A 21-year-old man has appeared before court charged with arson following an attack on a house in Dungannon, County Tyrone.

Miguel Caetanito was charged with arson with intent to endanger life.

Mr Caetanito, with an address of Canal Place in Coalisland, appeared from custody in Dungannon via video link to Strabane Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

Officers rescued a 37-year-old man and 70-year-old woman, along with two children, aged seven and 10, from the house in Cunninghams Lane on Monday night.

The defendant was charged on 3 February for destroying by fire the property at Cunninghams Lane in Dungannon, thereby endangering the life of four people.

There was no application for bail and the defendant was remanded in custody on Thursday.

Police responded to a report of children trapped in the house in Dungannon just after 20:30 GMT on Monday.

Following the fire, eight PSNI officers were treated in hospital for the effects of smoke inhalation but were later discharged.

A police officer told the court that the two children are in a stable condition.

The injured pensioner has come now come out of sedation and is in a stable condition and the adult male remains in intensive care.

The court heard that whilst in the ambulance, the police spoke to the 10-year-old child who informed police that "the crazy man in the red jumper did it".

Police said they observed the defendant on the roof of the property wearing a red jumper and noted that he appeared intoxicated. He was subsequently arrested.

The defendant was brought to Dungannon custody suite and police said that after his arrest he made an unsolicited comment stating that "I came out of the fire".

Police also said that when he later appeared as a patient in hospital, the defendant also made the comment of "I'm in a lot of trouble, I need to speak to a solicitor urgently".

The officer added that after hospital treatment they were able to get a more detailed statement from the 10-year-old child.

She stated that in the evening of Monday night after finishing her homework, she went upstairs.

She told police, the male in the red jumper, that she identified as Miguel Caetanito, was in the house.

She told police that whilst upstairs she became warm and opened her bedroom window to realise there was a fire in the house.

She went to close her bedroom door but the door was forced open with the fire and the bedroom filled with smoke.

The officer told the court as the children were upstairs, the defendant ran up the stairs to alert them to the fire and then tried to get them out through the back window and this is when police arrived.

Police said the defendant replied no comment during interviews over the course of two days.

A defence solicitor questioned if there was any evidence connecting his client to causing the fire.

The officer pointed to the eye witness account from the child and said the fire service had advised that the fire was started maliciously and they were satisfied that they could connect him to the charge.

A defence solicitor said that the child had not witnessed the fire being started as she was upstairs and the evidence was that the fire was started downstairs.

The solicitor said he believed there was insufficient evidence to connect his client to the charge.

The judge noted that Mr Caetanito made no comment when interviewed by police and if it had have been an accidental fire he should have given an explanation as to what happened.

There was no application for bail and the defendant was remanded in custody.

The case is due to heard again in Dungannon Courthouse on 26 February.