A man whose former partner died from injuries sustained in a house fire four years ago has denied claims made by the deceased that he set her alight.
Kenneth Hynes told Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Tuesday that the suggestion he had poured liquid on the legs of Martina Kiely before setting her on fire was “not true”. The allegation was made by Ms Kiely to family and gardaí before her death almost four years ago, the inquest heard.
Ms Kiely, late of Shanabooly Road, Limerick, died at St James’s Hospital in Dublin on December 31st, 2020 from complications related to the injuries she sustained in the August 2nd, 2019 fire.
Det Sgt Shane Ryan, who led a review of the Garda investigation into the fire after concerns were raised by Ms Kiely’s family at an inquest last year, said the blaze had most likely started accidentally. The inquest heard gardaí were unable to establish the exact cause but that an analysis of debris from the seat of the fire by Forensic Science Ireland found no traces of an accelerant.
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Ms Kiely suffered burns to 47 per cent of her body and, while in hospital following the incident, wrote a note to her family stating “Kenneth Hynes did this to me”. She repeated the claim on several occasions.
“She told me that she’d been assaulted by Kenneth Hynes in her bedroom ... [and that he] poured liquid on her legs and set fire to her,” Noel Kiely, a brother of the deceased, told the court. “She never deviated from what she said, never added or subtracted from it.”
In a deposition provided to the court, Mr Hynes said he was at Ms Kiely’s house on the day of the fire drinking alcohol with her, but left at about 6.30pm to return to his home, which was some 350m away. He said he was made aware of the house fire at about 3am by a neighbour.
Ms Kiely was discovered by firefighters in her bedroom “curled up” near to the seat of the fire, the court heard.
Asked by coroner Aisling Gannon under oath about Ms Kiely’s allegation to her family that he had started the fire and then left the house, Mr Hynes said: “That’s not true.”
“I just don’t believe Martina said that about me,” he added.
Det Garda Seán O’Hagan told the court that he travelled to St James’s Hospital to interview Ms Kiely regarding her allegations about Mr Hynes on February 22nd, 2020. He said she gave differing versions of the events of the night in question and seemed confused. He said he ultimately decided that she was “not in a fit condition” to give a statement.
He said subsequent attempts to approach Ms Kiely for a statement were complicated by Covid-19 restrictions at the hospital. He said gardaí had called to Ms Kiely’s house on two occasions in 2014 and 2015 following allegations of domestic violence, but no offence was ever disclosed.
A file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions following Det Sgt Ryan’s review of the investigation, but ultimately there was no direction to prosecute anybody.
Det Sgt Ryan said a forensic investigation had determined that the fire had been started in the bedroom while the door was closed. He noted that a lighter and cigarette were found in the room.
The coroner returned a narrative verdict.
Prior to Ms Gannon issuing her verdict, Mr Kiely said his family would “respectfully” accept the outcome of the inquest, “but nothing will ever change what we know and what we feel”.
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