Father of murdered Offaly boy says last month 'most painful' period of his life

THE father of the four-year-old Edenderry boy killed in a firebomb attack last month will be sentenced for a serious drugs offence on January 27.

Aaron Holt (27), Castleview Park, Edenderry, also faces the activation of a suspended sentence previously imposed on him for an assault, unconnected with the latest offence.

A sentencing hearing in Tullamore Circuit Court today (Thursday, January 15) heard how Mr Holt and a co-accused, Shane O'Neill (26), with an address at Killane Court, Edenderry, but now living in Tullamore, were investigated by gardai.

CCTV footage at Castleview Park, admissions by Mr O'Neill after his arrest, and the content of messages on TikTok eventually led to both men pleading guilty last year to having €32,910 worth of heroin for sale or supply on May 8, 2024.

The sentencing hearing was told by Detective Garda Trevor Mullins that gardai viewed CCTV footage of Mr O'Neill retrieving a package from behind a hedge at a lane at Castleview Park on the morning of May 8 and then entering the home of Mr Holt in Castleview Park.

Mr O'Neill was then captured on camera leaving that house and concealing the package in the lane again.

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Detective Garda Mullins said gardai retrieved the package and at 4.05am the following morning Mr Holt sent Mr O'Neill a message on TikTok asking him to bring “gear” to him and he would give him “5p”.

Mr O'Neill replied “Swear” and after further messages from Mr Holt to Mr O'Neill, Mr Holt messaged: “On my kids' life, I need it, and the scales”.

CCTV footage of the lane captured both men searching the lane from 4.40am for several hours and audio recorded Mr Holt saying “Where is the brown?” and “There's going to be war boys”.

Shane Geraghty, BL, prosecuting, told the court that after failing to find the package Mr Holt reached out to third parties for CCTV covering the area to find the drugs.

The court was also told that gardai got warrants to search Mr Holt's property where they found a “tick list” under his bed and “baggies” for packaging drugs in a press, along with mobile phones.

Mr O'Neill was lying on a couch when gardai arrived at his residence and a tick list was also recovered there, but Mr O'Neill said it had been given to him by Mr Holt.

Mr O'Neill gave the gardai the access code for his phone and they viewed the TikTok messages between the two men on it, including one where Mr Holt messaged the other man saying “Don't forget a bit of gear”.

Mr Holt was subsequently interviewed four times but gardai got nothing of evidential value from him.

Mr O'Neill was described as “forthright” when gardai questioned him and said he had started a job in construction the previous night, May 8, and while he was a user of drugs, having been “on coke for ages”, he had never sold drugs.

His role involved hiding and meeting people with “stuff” and he would hand over heroin and weed.

Asked about his dealings with Mr Holt, Mr O'Neill told gardai: “He'd ask me to come to the house also. He doesn't respect his house either.”

He admitted hiding drugs on the lane and said it was a “stupid mistake”. He would only be paid “50 quid” for what he had done.

Asked about a tick list found in his house Mr O'Neill said it was Mr Holt's. Mr Holt gave it to him because “He's always getting raided”.

A figure of €99,455 was written in Mr Holt's handwriting, Mr O'Neill told gardai, saying that amount was owed to Mr Holt.

The tick list also had names with numbers beside them such as 10,000 and 5,000.

The court was told by Seoirse O Dunlaing, SC, for Mr Holt, that the man had left school at 14 and then had some form of employment with the Acorn Project in Edenderry until he was 18 or 19.

It was then he got involved in illicit drugs and had been in and out of the judicial system.

A father of three, his youngest had died at the age of four in what Mr O Dunlaing said was a “serious criminal incident” and his mother was still in hospital as a result of that incident.

He had missed his own son's funeral because he was not permitted to leave prison for hit and the events had hit him “like a train coming down the tracks”.

In a letter to the court, he apologised for the mistakes he had made over the years and said the past month had been “the most painful period” of his life.

The court also heard that Mr Holt had 59 previous convictions and 12 of those were under the Misuse of Drugs Act, including three for having drugs for sale or supply.

David Nugent, BL, for Mr O'Neill, a man with no previous convictions, said he was aged 24 at the time of the offence and had recently got married.

He had taken the matter very seriously and provided the code to his phone which helped the gardai to thread together the evidence.

It was his first time ever to be in contact with the gardai and he understood it was a very serious matter.

He had learned in therapy since that people were making use of him and he felt useful himself as a result.

He had completed a 20-week addiction treatment programme at Cuan Mhuire this year and was now going to NA meetings regularly and was clean from drugs.

He had started using cannabis and tablets when he was in his 20s but had engaged fully with services and was now working as a digger driver and hoped to go on to drive teleporters.

In a letter to the court Mr O'Neill said he had learned how there were consequences for what he was doing and he knew he had made poor choices. He also knew he did not need drink or drugs to be happy and had moved out of Edenderry.

Mr Nugent told Judge Keenan Johnson that Mr O'Neill should be very proud of where he had got to, having rebuilt his life from the ground up.

Judge Johnson said that because he had a lot of information to consider he would adjourn both matters and finalise sentence on January 27 at a sitting of Mullingar Circuit Court.

He said the– this case “disturbingly illustrates the scourge of illicit drugs and their adverse impact on society”.

He added: “The size of the tick list alone, €100,000 due on it, shows how deep rooted drug abuse has become in our society.”

Judge Johnson also extended sympathy to Mr Holt on the tragic death of his son and his aunt.

Mary Holt (60), died along with Tadgh Farrell as a result of the attack on the house in Castleview Park on December 6 last.