Gardaí have released new CCTV footage of the “callous and murderous attack on a family home” in Co Offaly, which killed a four-year-old boy and his 60-year-old grand-aunt last weekend.
Gardaí are continuing to investigate all the circumstances surrounding the house fire in Castleview Park in Edenderry on Saturday, December 6, which claimed the lives of Tadhg Farrell and Mary Holt.
The CCTV footage released by gardaí shows two men in hooded jumpers at the front of the property. One of the men appears to smash a window of the house before the other man lights an incendiary device and throws it through. The pair then flee the scene on foot as the fire takes hold.
Tadhg and Ms Holt were in a front room downstairs in the house when the attack occurred. Their remains were discovered in the front room when the fire was ultimately brought under control by local fire services.
Tadhg’s grandmother, who is in her 50s, continues to receive hospital treatment for serious burn injuries she sustained in the attack.
It comes as the local community is to publicly protest the scourge of drugs in its midst, as gardaí probe whether Tadhg and Ms Holt were killed in a reprisal attack over a recent prison row.
In an update on Wednesday, gardaí said they are continuing to “keep an open mind as to the reasons and motives” for the “reckless, callous and murderous attack”.
The murder investigation is being coordinated from an incident room at Tullamore Garda Station under the direction of a Senior Investigating Officer.
Last Saturday, Tadhg had been visiting his grandmother and his grand-aunt at the house in Castleview Park, and shortly before 7.45pm, the house was attacked.
The investigation is being led by the Serious Crime Unit Laois/Offaly Garda Division, supported by all necessary resources from Laois/Offaly Garda Division, the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI), the Garda Síochána Analysis Service and other National Units.
Autopsies on the remains of Tadhg and Ms Holt have been completed, and the results are not being released for operational reasons.
A spokesperson said that An Garda Síochána, through family liaison officers, “continue to liaise with and support the families of Tadhg and Mary at this time as they prepare for family funerals”.
To date, the investigation team has carried out over 150 investigative tasks, conducted more than 250 house-to-house enquiries, and retrieved over 60 pieces of CCTV and more than 100 written documents.
Speaking on Wednesday, Chief Superintendent Anthony Lonergan said: “Tadhg should be with his family today.
“His grandaunt Mary should be working in a local nursing home where she worked for over 40 years helping her community.”
Mr Lonergan said he wished to reassure the community in Edenderry and throughout Laois/ Offaly Division that he would “ensure that An Garda Síochána is here to support you through this traumatic event, but also that An Garda Síochána is determined, and will identify all those responsible for the deaths of Tadhg and Mary and bring them before the courts”.
“I appeal directly to any person with any information on this violent fatal incident to speak with investigating gardaí,” he said.
The investigation team can be contacted at the incident room at Tullamore Garda Station on 057 932 7600, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station, in particular Edenderry Garda Station.
