Garda Commissioner expects further arrests in Waterford arson investigation
A man in his 20s and woman in her 30s, arrested as part of the murder investigation, continued to be interviewed by gardaí on Friday.
More arrests are expected in the murder investigation into a suspected arson attack in Waterford that killed four members of a family, according to Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly.
Philip and Kim English and their sons Callum, 12, and Jayden, nine, died in the suspected arson on their home on Tuesday.
A man in his 20s and a woman in her 30s, arrested as part of the murder investigation, continued to be interviewed by gardaí on Friday.
Gardaí have made seven searches and seized a number of items in the investigation, according to Mr Kelly.
“My condolences go out to the English family, in fact the wider community of Waterford, an absolutely horrendous crime,” he said.
“We have a full homicide investigation under way, we have made significant progress in the last number of days.
“We have two people in custody currently. We do anticipate further arrests in this case.”
The Garda Commissioner was speaking as 207 new gardaí were attested on Friday, bringing the force to the highest number in its history.
Also speaking at the ceremony, Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said he believes gardaí can keep people who are under threat from drugs gangs safe.
“I would appeal to people to put their faith in An Garda Síochána,” he said.
“If you are being intimidated, if somebody is threatening you with violence, go to An Garda Síochána and report it. That is the best way to deal with this.
“I believe An Garda Síochána can keep people safe. We have seen prosecutions and convictions in respect of drug-related intimidation.
“If people don’t report it to the gardaí they are very much on their own. But the support is there.”
A son of Mr English claimed earlier this week that his family were murdered because of someone else’s 20,000-euro drug debt.
John James English said the family had been targeted for some time but were not involved in drugs and were “innocent”.
He told RTÉ News: “It’s a family, you know.
“Twenty grand worth of a debt, is that worth nearly five lives?”
Mr O’Callaghan said he has “no difficulty conducting reviews” into how families who are threatened are dealt with, as he appealed to members of the public who take drugs to look at their own culpability in funding the industry.
“They were horrific events that we saw during the week,” he said.
“I think it was a watershed moment when you see a family of six people, attack attempts made to kill the whole family, four of them murdered.
“But it has to be a watershed moment, not just for An Garda Síochána, or politicians. It has to be for the public as well.
“People who are this weekend taking cocaine need to recognise that they are funding organised crime that’s involved in murdering people for debts of 20,000 euro.”
Waterford City is “still in shock” after the deaths of the family members, according to their local parish priest Gerry Chestnutt.
They died at their home on the Birchwood estate in the early hours of Tuesday.
Two other children injured in the attack remain in a critical condition.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme, Fr Chestnutt said the community is still trying to make sense of Tuesday’s fire.
“There is just a deep, deep sense of sadness around here, around our entire city,” he said.
“People are still in shock. They’re heartbroken. They’re devastated, and they can’t understand how this will happen and why this will happen.
“What happened should never have happened, and people are entitled to feel angry because it’s a natural reaction when something that is so horrendous takes place to a family that were absolutely completely innocent and loved in the area in which they lived.”
A joint funeral mass for Mr and Mrs English and their two sons will take place on Monday afternoon.
Gardaí said the arrested man and woman were held on suspicion of facilitating a criminal organisation.
The post-mortem examinations on Mr and Mrs English and their sons have been completed, but the results are not being released for “operational reasons”.
Gardaí have repeated their appeal for information about the incident in Birch Avenue.
On Thursday, Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane said drug-related intimidation and criminal gangs must be confronted head on and called for better support for families targeted by criminals.
Mr Cullinane said the attack in Waterford showed “utter contempt for human life”.
Multiple properties have been searched and a number of electronic devices and vehicles seized as part of an “intense” investigation.
Mr Cullinane, who knows the family, said people in Waterford were devastated by their deaths.
Speaking in the Dáil during Leaders’ Questions on Thursday, he said: “This murderous attack showed utter contempt for human life, and anyone who planned, ordered or carried out this attack must face the full force of the law.
“Drug-related intimidation must also be confronted head on. Other families are looking out their front doors and wondering, could their children be next?
“No family should have to put their children to bed wondering whether someone will set fire to their home before morning, and yet drug gangs and organised criminals are inflicting precisely that terror on families.
“They threaten children. They assault people. They burn homes, they murder people, and they pursue parents, friends and even neighbours for money.”
He called on the Government to ensure that Waterford has the Garda resources needed for the murder investigation, including the support of the Organised Crime Unit and the Criminal Assets Bureau.
“Secondly, will you ensure that families reporting threats have all the supports that they need, including an urgent risk assessment, a named contact and a co-ordinated protection plan, with access to safe emergency accommodation when needed?” he added.
“Will you commit to a review of how threats and requests for help are managed, and how families are supported, and will the Minister for Justice report to this House next week on the wider response to drug-related intimidation, because the response to these murders cannot be outraged today and forgotten tomorrow.”
He added: “We have to face down these criminal gangs. These are cowards, and what happened in Waterford has people’s hearts broken, and it should never, ever have happened.”
Minister for Defence Helen McEntee said the attack was “violent criminality” and that drug debt collection was an “absolute scourge” on society.
“For those who do not feel that they can go to the Garda, I think this is part of some of the problem for people,” she said.
“They don’t feel that they can go to the gardaí, that there are other routes, but that we do need to encourage people to go directly to the gardaí because we do have within An Garda Síochána a dedicated unit, a dedicated anti-drug strategy through Operation Tara, that looks at and deals with quite a number of things.”
Ms McEntee said she would “engage” with the Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, on whether more could be done to tackle the issue.