Bottle of accelerant found at scene of alleged arson - court - Courts News Ireland

A bottle containing accelerant was found at the scene of an alleged petrol bombing in Castlebar, Co Mayo a year ago, a court has heard. 28-year-old Eamon Maughan of of Castlegrove, Castlebar has denied arson and making a threat to kill or cause serious harm to his former fiancée Ellen Maughan at her house, also in Castlegrove, on October 29, 2025. His

A bottle containing accelerant was found at the scene of an alleged petrol bombing in Castlebar, Co Mayo a year ago, a court has heard.

28-year-old Eamon Maughan of of Castlegrove, Castlebar has denied arson and making a threat to kill or cause serious harm to his former fiancée Ellen Maughan at her house, also in Castlegrove, on October 29, 2025.

His trial at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court has heard that Mrs Maughan was at home with her three children under the age of five when the alleged attack took place at 3am in the morning.

Giving evidence, Garda Thomas Nugent said he found a Fairy Liquid bottle on the front door step containing a black cloth doused in suspected accelerant.

Gda Nugent told Patrick Reynolds BL, prosecuting, that a report from Forensic Science Ireland confirmed there was petrol in the bottle.

Earlier in the trial, Mrs Maughan told the court that the front door was “engulfed in fire and smoke” before she managed to quench the flames by throwing pots of water at the door.

She also said she had seen the accused from her upstairs window running from the scene after he threw the bottle twice at the door and it caught fire.

Gda Nugent said he did not personally examine the door but that fire crew at the scene told him there was soot damage to the door and that photos taken showed scorch marks.

The garda said there was “hard driving rain” at the time and his priority was to secure the bottle and make sure everyone in the house was safe.

Gda Nugent agreed with Fergal McMorrow BL, defending, that the label of the Fairy Liquid bottle was still intact and had not been burnt off.

The garda also agreed that Mrs Maughan did not say at the scene that she had seen the accused running away.

“She was quite agitated, quite scared and quite irate. It was understandable, given the circumstances. I can’t imagine what was going on in her mind as regards her kids’ safety and her own safety,” Gda Nugent said.

Garda Edel Connolly, who also attended the scene, said when Mrs Maughan was asked how she knew the attacker was Eamon Maughan, she replied that he had been ejected from her in-laws’ house earlier that evening following a funeral.

The court heard when Maughan was arrested later the same day, he denied either committing arson or returning to the house a few hours later making threats to kill or cause serious harm.

Mrs Maughan’s husband Michael told the court that the accused shouted “I’ll burn ye out of it” when the couple returned to their house with their three children at 7am the following morning.

Mr Maughan agreed with defence counsel that he didn’t bring his children to the hospital because he didn’t think they needed it, and also that he had not had to repair any fire or smoke damage.

“It was a large fire with a lot of smoke, but it could have been a lot worse. She quenched it out,” he said.

Mr Maughan added: “If my wife didn’t wake up, my wife and kids could be in a graveyard right now. It could have been 20 times worse than it was.”

The trial is expected to conclude this week before Judge Eoin Garavan and a jury of seven men and five women.