A man who threatened to burn down his rented home and his housemate with two cans of petrol in a row over rent money has been ordered to pay his victim €750 in compensation.
Allan Manabat appeared before Letterkenny District Court in Co Donegal following the terrifying incident.
Manabat, aged 48, had been living at Willowbrook in Letterkenny for just 10 days before the incident.
The accused had threatened to burn down the property belonging to Shaun Patton on November 25th last.
He flipped and brought two cans of petrol to the house claiming he was not happy with the accommodation.
He was also charged with attacking another tenant at the house, Attiq Ahmad.
Solicitor for the accused, Mr Patsy Gallagher, said his client was a technology expert who was from the Philippines but was a German national.
He said he planned to move back to Germany when the court case was settled.
He claimed Manabat had been complaining about the noise outside his window for a number of days since he had moved in.
The accused, who had no previous convictions, apologised to the court and said he did not know what had come over him.
Judge Paul Kelly said he was still concerned about the accused man’s attitude in his probation report.
“I’m concerned about his attitude. This has had a serious effect on the injured party.
“If he is planning to go back to Germany I’m willing to accept a concrete offer of remorse,” he said.
Judge Kelly said he was willing to accept a figure of €750 in compensation for the victim and adjourned the case until July 9th for payment.