Woman who set fire to a bus during the Dublin riots is jailed

Isabel Hayes

A woman who set fire to a bus during the 2023 Dublin riots, causing nearly half a million euro worth of damage, has been jailed for six years.

Prior to her case being finalised, Leanne Kelly (34) told Judge Martina Baxter to “fuck off” and to sentence her on Tuesday instead of putting the case back for a governor's report and urine analysis. “You're not getting any urines out of me,” she told the judge.

Judge Baxter went on to pass sentence on Kelly, of no fixed abode, who pleaded guilty to criminal damage of a bus on O'Connell Bridge during the Dublin Riots on November 23rd, 2023.

The court heard that on the night in question, she approached a garda car that was on fire and set fire to a piece of cardboard, which she then threw onto the bus.

She was the only person who was involved in setting fire to the bus, which was “fortunately” empty, causing €477,851 worth of damage to it. It was completely destroyed in the incident, Detective Garda Barry Brennan told Emer Ni Chúagáin BL, prosecuting.

“She used the garda car which was on fire as an accelerant,” Judge Baxter said.

The court heard Kelly, who was homeless and addicted to drugs at the time of the incident, “got caught up” in the riots that evening, which started after some children and childcare workers were attacked on Parnell Street earlier that day.

Defence counsel said Kelly had no political motivations that night. She has 66 previous convictions including criminal damage, theft, robbery, assault causing harm and misuse of drugs. She was on bail for other offences at the time and has been in custody since last year, serving a sentence for assault.

CCTV footage was shown of Kelly first entering a Circle K with other looters before joining a crowd that was gathered around an empty bus.

The court heard that rioters had earlier punched the driver and threatened that he would be killed and told to get off the bus. Kelly was not involved in this group. The driver eventually made his way on foot back to Ringsend bus depot.

Kelly was identified from the 17,000 hours of CCTV footage that gardaí analysed in the wake of the riot.

She was seen trying to smash the steering wheel of the bus, damaging the mirror and elbowing the glass window before she grabbed some cardboard and set it alight using a nearby garda fire that was in flames.

A victim impact statement from a representative of Dublin Bus was read out in court by counsel.

“Employees of Dublin Bus have never experienced anything like the violent, threatening and volatile behaviour on that day,” the statement said. “Dublin Bus drivers, on the frontline doing their job, became targets for violent behaviour.”

The statement said Dublin Bus employs 4,000 people, including around 3,100 drivers from 85 countries. Their morale was “deeply affected” by the events of November 23rd, 2023, the court heard.

A total of eight vehicles were damaged that day, including three which were completely destroyed. The company suffered a loss of about €1.9 million, the statement said.

John Byrne SC, defending, handed in a hand-written letter of apology to the court from Kelly. He said she has limited education, ran away from home at the age of 14 and comes from a “grim background”.

He said she was under the influence of drugs at the time and went along to the riots to see what was going on.

"She can't excuse her behaviour that day,” he said. “...She had no political motivation for getting involved. Being intoxicated, she really can't answer the question as to why she did what she did.”

Kelly “got caught up in a situation which she deeply regrets getting caught up in”, he added.

Judge Baxter said Kelly “fed into the frenzy of lawlessness and destruction” on the night in question and that the “disdain displayed by setting fire to this double-decker bus was breathtaking and completely gratuitous”.

She noted that while Kelly was just one offender on the night in question, she joined in the “mob mentality” and her lack of concern for anyone else was “completely shameful”.

The judge said the events of that night had a ripple effect on many people, including Dublin Bus employees as evidenced by their victim impact statement.

Judge Baxter said it was a pity that Kelly's attitude in court on Tuesday did not reflect what had been said on her behalf by defence counsel, but she accepted Kelly was remorseful for her actions on the day in question.

She handed down a six-year sentence, which she backdated to October 10th, when Kelly's sentence for assault expired.