The man accused of setting a fire that caused 3 million euro in damages to a section of Longford town has been refused High Court bail. Guo Zhong Chen, of 9 Belvedere Terrace, Mullingar, is charged with arson in relation to the Grafton Court Fire in Longford Town on the 28th of July. He was arrested by Gardaí on the 8th of August at his home where he attempted to flee by jumping from a balcony in his underwear. It's alleged that Mr Chen, a Chinese national and naturalised citizen of Ireland set a fire at Oyama Sushi in Longford Town on the 28th of July. The business is operated by Mr Chen's Ex partner and her brother, with Mr Chen's relationship with his ex partner said to have ended at the beginning of July.
The fire saw the closure of 13 businesses and close to 60 jobs lost. The 55 year old first appeared at special sitting of Longford District Court on the 9th of August where he was denied bail and remanded in custody to Castlerea Prison. Today he appeared via video link to Cloverhill Court in Dublin to seek High Court Bail, with Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring presiding. Detective Garda Shane O'Connor appeared for Longford Gardaí and outlined their concerns for the case if Mr Chen was granted bail. He stated the Mullingar businessman had no ties to the jurisdiction and was currently sending money monthly to his wife and step children in China. Detective O'Connor argued that Mr Chen was likely to flee the country if granted bail and that Gardaí had been unable to locate his passport. Concerns were also raised about the accused's use of alternative names, with financial documents found in his home showing bank accounts in a variation of his name and one with a completely separate name,
Gardaí and the state solicitor had prepared a selection of CCTV evidence showing the accused travelling from his home in Mullingar to Longford, including footage of him dumping material close to the site of the fire in which the defendant had positively identified himself. The footage also shows a male, who Gardaí claim is the accused, walking to the site of the fire, retrieving material dumped by Mr Chen and lighting the fire before returning to the area in which the car is parked, discarding an item, later identified as a blue lighter with Mr Chen's DNA on it. The accused denies that the subsequent footage shows him. Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring did not view the footage, instead accepting its contents as described by the state, Other elements of the Garda bail objection came from their fears, that if released, Mr Chen would interfere with the injured parties.
They argued that a statement from his ex partner described a message from Mr Chen stating that, should she take up employment at the Longford sushi restaurant, the business would not last long. Defence for Mr Chen argued that his clients statement was simple business advice in the current economic climate. This was refuted by Detective Garda Shane O'Connor who stated that 'if the 27th of July was anything to go by, sushi was very popular in Longford'' with Ms Justice Ring echoing 'and elsewhere'. In presenting possible bail terms to the court, the defence offered that the accused would surrender his passport, currently held by a friend unknown to Gardaí and that his wife would travel to Ireland, surrender her own passport and provide a bail bond of €20,000. In taking into account the arguments from both the state and the defence, Ms Justice Ring stated that due to the accused's limited ties to the region and the fact that the offences were severe enough, that it presented the possibility that he may leave the country, she would refuse bail. He is due to appear before a sitting of Longford District Court next month for the presentation of a book of evidence
