Natasha Reid
A 21-year-old man has been jailed for eight years for killing a vulnerable pensioner by setting fire to his home five years ago.
Aaron McDonagh (21), of no fixed abode, had pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 61-year-old Gerry Marron on March 21st, 2016. He was 16 at the time.
He had also pleaded guilty to committing arson on the same date by setting fire to Mr Marron’s house at St Macartans Villas, Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, intending to damage it or being reckless as to whether it would be damaged and intending to endanger the life of another or being reckless as to whether the life of another would be thereby endangered.
Mr Justice Michael White sentenced the man, who has a learning disability, to nine years on each count, and suspended the final year. Both sentences are to run concurrently.
