Castlebar house targeted with petrol bomb

Castlebar house targeted with petrol bomb


Family uninjured following early morning attack

Anton McNulty

A CASTLEBAR family had a lucky escape when their house was petrol bombed less than 24 hours after a window pane was broken in the house.
The petrol bomb was thrown through the front door of the house in the Chestnut Grove area of the town at approximately 4.30am on yesterday (Monday) morning. It is understood that a mother and her son were in the house where the incident occurred but they escaped uninjured. The front door was scorched but the fire was extinguished before it spread to other parts of the home.
This was the second attack on the house in less than 24 hours after a window pane was reported broken to gardaí the previous day. The motive for the attack of this kind on the home is not known but it is believed that it might be connected to a feud involving members of the family.
Castlebar’s Mayor, Cllr Ger Deere told The Mayo News that such an attack was a worrying development but said the people of Castlebar would not stand for incidents of this nature. Chestnut Grove is a large estate in Castlebar but does not have a reputation for anti-social behaviour and Cllr Deere said he rarely heard of any trouble in the estate.
“This is a very worrying development is a residential area like Chestnut Grove which is a long established estate in Castlebar with a good residential committee. You rarely hear of any trouble up there and this is the first time I have heard anything along theses lines. It is very worrying that people can resort to this sort of thing and I will encourage anyone with information to pass it onto the gardaí with the hope of catching the culprits. We will not tolerate this activity in Castlebar,” said the Fine Gael councillor.
Attacks of such nature on houses are rare in Castlebar and Superintendent Willie Keavaney told The Mayo News that it was very worrying that people will resort to such intimidation. He explained that gardaí had no information regarding who may have carried out the attack and asked the public for their assistance.
“We are appealing for witnesses and for people to assist in this investigation. We have received no information so far and we are appealing for anyone who may know something to contact us. This is a very worrying because I feel the people involved do not realise what damage a petrol bomb can do if they take hold. People could become trapped and it could result in something more serious,” he explained.
The scene has been technically examined and a full investigation is underway.  Any person who may have seen anything suspicious in the early hours of this morning is asked to contact the Gardai at Castlebar on 094 9022222.