A Portadown man – in a “moment of madness” – set fire to a Halifax building in the centre of town due to an unpaid insurance policy, a court has heard.
Patrick Brennan, of Ballyoran Park, appeared before Craigavon Crown Court on Friday for sentencing following an arson attack on the bank building, on Woodhouse Street, on the evening of February 6, this year.
The 55-year-old was also sentenced for possession of a petrol canister and sledgehammer, which was used to smash the window, allowing him to pour the petrol inside.
Brennan appeared in court alongside his adult children, their partners and various other family members which his defence contended “underscores what a bizarre, out of character incident this was for a perfectly ordinary, middle-aged man who was living his life, causing no harm to anyone throughout his life, and then has this moment of madness”.
The defence barrister said “something snapped and he’s gone and done this; he has destroyed his his life and his legacy, and he’s brought shame on himself and his family”.
Her Honour Judge McColgan KC read a statement of the facts to the court.
It was on February 6, at approximately 8.30pm, a witness was walking in Portadown town centre and heard a loud noise coming from Woodhouse Street.
She looked in that direction and observed a man pouring liquid from a red container into the Halifax building through a broken window.
That man – Brennan – then proceeded to pour more liquid from a second clear container along the edges of the Halifax window before setting the liquid alight. The fire spread quickly as the police and the fire service were called. On their arrival, the interior of the building was ablaze.
Brennan remained at the scene, sitting on the ground, propping himself up against a nearby property.
During an interview, he explained that a fire had occurred at his home in Portadown in the April of 2022, when a neighbour had put hot ashes into a bin causing substantial damage to his garage and home.
His roof caught fire and two bedrooms were completely gutted.
He was promptly compensated for the external items by the neighbour’s insurance company but his own home insurance company – Halifax – had not paid out.
He advised that work had been carried out on the property but was of a very poor standard. He was unable to claim off his neighbour’s insurance, and had to claim off his own insurance, which was through Halifax.
Brennan said he had kept a journal from day one of the incident. He referred to his frustration around several professionals at Halifax, as well as environmental health and with a quantity surveyor company.
He reported that the work carried out was not done correctly and was of a poor standard and as a result he felt “a profound sense of unfairness, frustration and stress as a result of the whole situation”.
He recognised how his “frustration and anger built up over time”, in terms of how his claim was being dealt with and the poor quality of the workmanship carried out.
On the day of the offence, he said he’d been feeling very depressed, and that “he stood at the front of the house and began to cry at the state it was in”.
That day he realised, through use of his daily journal, that it had been 666 days from the incident had first occurred.
Frustrated by the fact that the insurance claim had not progressed he decided, at that point, to set fire to the Halifax “to make a statement”.
He brought two canisters containing petrol and a sledgehammer and walked up to the building with them in a trolley.
At the time he told his partner he was going for a walk.
In an interview with Probation, Brennan told an officer that he believed “at that stage it was either the bank or me”.
He claimed that “if he didn’t throw the petrol over the bank and set it on fire, that he would have thrown it over himself”.
A business impact statement, provided to the court by Halifax, said there was close to £500,000, $2,000 and €5,000 in the building at the time.
They stated the rebuild cost amounted to £2.4 million and “due to the astronomical costs, the decision was taken not to rebuild the branch”.
Halifax also confirmed that Lloyd’s banking group hold a property damage and business interruption insurance policy with Zurich, but the excess was £2.5million meant the damage caused has not been covered by any insurance policy.
Brennan’s defence barrister stated that this is “a bizarre case where an outwardly normal, middle-aged man was suffering from such inner turmoil…that he engaged in a destructive act leading to significant and permanent changes to family status in his life, and leading to him ending up in this court today”.
They added that he chose to stay at the scene as he wanted to be arrested and to “expose the Halifax”. They also alluded to the fact he set fire to the building in the evening when he believed that it would be unoccupied.
He also expressed his sorrow for the employees of the bank and that it was his intention to cause smoke damage and disruption.
References were made to Brennan’s alcohol issues and mental health, however, it was noted that he had not consumed any alcohol at the time of the offence.
Judge McColgan, in passing sentence, said she took into consideration “the extremely high value of the damage caused and the impact of the offences, not only on the Halifax but its employees, and the wider community”.
Brennan was handed a three year sentence, split with one year in custody, and two years on licence.
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