Arsonist who caused death of disabled grandmother now jailed for shoplifting

Arsonist Nicola Kavanagh

An arsonist who spent time in jail after she set fire to a house causing the death of a disabled grandmother has now been jailed for a series of shoplifting offences.

Nicola Kavanagh, 35, was previously sentenced to 12 years with four years suspended for the manslaughter of Eva Berrill, 73, when she set fire to the Berill family home in the Co Louth town of Drogheda in August 2014.

Kavanagh, of Rathmullen Park in Drogheda, was released from prison for manslaughter in March 2021.

Now, just three years since her release, she has been sentenced to ten months behind bars after she pleaded guilty to stealing almost €800 worth of goods from various shops in Co Louth.

The convicted arsonist, who has 25 previous convictions, appeared before Judge Eirinn McKiernan at Drogheda District Court earlier this week where evidence of her shoplifting offences was given.

Kavanagh stole goods worth nearly €260 from the same Centra store in Ballsgrove, Drogheda on four occasions between March 9 and July 30 last year while on dates in November 2023 she stole items worth €120 from Dunnes Stores and Aldi on Drogheda.

Further evidence of her shoplifting offences include the theft of nearly €100 worth of goods from Mr Price on August 4, 2023 and perfumes worth €176 from Hickey’s Pharmacy on West Street in the town on January 9 this year.

Defence solicitor Eleanor Kelly said Kavanagh turned to alcohol following the death of her mother two years ago and has €225 compensation and could come up with more if given the time.

Ms Kelly suggested Kavanagh could benefit from the Probation Services. However, Judge McKiernan said “Nothing was appropriate other than a custodial sentence.”

The judge sentenced Kavanagh to a total of ten months in prison and fixed recognisance in the event of an appeal.

In 2016, during her sentencing hearing for the manslaughter of Mrs Berrill and arson, Dundalk Circuit Court heard the then 28-year-old set fire to a net curtain in the downstairs bedroom that Mrs Berrill slept in in her home on Cord Road in Drogheda.

The court heard it was a warm summer’s night on August 16, 2014 and the window had been left open as Mrs Berrill slept. Det Inspector Pat Marry gave evidence that Kavanagh could be “clearly seen” on CCTV lighting paper and putting it in the open window.

This paper went out and she had lit a second piece of paper which caught the net curtain. “You can see the flames on CCTV,” he told Judge Michael O’Shea.

Kavanagh and three men walked past the house again at which point it was obvious the fire had taken hold, he added. A member of the public raised the alarm.

Mrs Berrill, who was paralysed and needed a wheelchair, died in the burns unit of St James’s Hospital in Dublin 96 days after the fire. She had burns to 12 percent of her body and was not strong enough to tolerate surgery.

Judge O’Shea also praised the actions of Colin Carter who had “fearlessly and courageously put his life at risk” by going into the house and dragging Mrs Berrill onto the street.

Kavanagh’s defence barrister Mr Roderick O’Hanlon said she was truly sorry and ashamed and “never intended any of this to happen”.

Kavanagh had a chronic alcohol and drug problem and had also been on Xanax and pain medication at the time.

In a victim impact statement, read by their son Des, Mrs Berrill’s husband Oliver said his family had visited her every day in hospital and watched her suffer.

“We lived in hope she would pull through and return home to her family where she belonged,” he said. “We cannot forgive Nicola Kavanagh for what she has done. She has broken up our family, we can never again be together, she has inflicted terrible pain on our family.”

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