A man who started a fire on a Luas tram during the Dublin riots has been remanded in custody pending sentence next October.
Evan Moore (20), of Grangemore Road, Donaghmede, Dublin 13, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to rioting, damaging a Luas by fire and damaging the windows of a Luas tram on November 23rd, 2023. Moore was spotted by gardaí at another anti-immigration protest the following May and admitted immediately that he had been at the Dublin riots.
The riot broke out after a five-year-old girl was severely wounded in a stabbing at Parnell Square earlier that day, in which two other children and a creche worker were also injured.
The court heard the Luas service was suspended for 24 hours and the damage to the tram was estimated at just under €5 million, as seats and wiring were destroyed.
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The estimated cost of the clean-up by council workers in the days after the riot was €159,000, with €115,000 worth of damage caused to property in the area.
A 12-minute video – a compilation of CCTV footage and social media videos from the day – was played to the court. This demonstrated that Moore’s involvement in the riot lasted from 7.05pm to 7.40pm that evening.
He could be seen in the footage damaging windows on a tram, and bringing burning materials onto it.
Det Insp Ken Hoare accepted in cross-examination by Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing SC, defending, that subsequent analysis of Moore’s phone found conversations with his mother in which she was asking her son to return home from town.
“Scumbags wrecking their own city,” Moore’s mother had messaged him, followed by another message a minute later: “Get out before it is too late and something happens.”
Then finally she messaged him: “Please, please leave Evan… my heart is racing.”
Det Insp Hoare agreed with Mr Ó Dúnlaing that Moore’s parents found it “abhorrent” that their son was in the city centre that day, and their messages found on his phone “were reflective of his family’s attitude to him being there”.
Det Insp Hoare told Stephen Montgomery BL, prosecuting, that a group of anti-immigrant protesters had gathered at the Garden of Remembrance at about 3.30pm following the earlier incident at Parnell Square.
A hostile crowd gathered at about 4pm at Cavendish Row, at the bottom of O’Connell Street, and the Luas line was blocked there by the gathering.
A total of 600 gardaí were deployed to deal with the riot and it was estimated that, at its height, 500 rioters were involved.
Det Insp Hoare confirmed the riot began with the burning of a Garda vehicle.
A Luas tram was initially blocked at 4.40pm by about 10 protesters preventing it from passing onto O’Connell Street. The passengers got off the Luas, but the driver remained on it until the violence escalated. He was then removed for his own safety and the tram was locked.
Det Insp Hoare said the footage showed Moore damaging widows on the Luas at about 7.30pm before he and others brought materials from a bin that had been set on fire onto the tram.
Gardaí viewed 17,000 hours of CCTV footage and identified more than 100 suspect rioters.
In May the following year, during another anti-immigration protest, Moore was spotted by officers.
He was stopped and admitted that he had been in the city centre the previous November during the riot. His home was later searched and his phone seized for analysis.
He was arrested on May 14th, 2024, and during interview, Moore identified himself on footage.
He agreed he had got “caught up in the moment” and that he was ashamed of his behaviour and regretted his involvement.
Det Insp Hoare confirmed Moore has no previous convictions and was 18 years old at the time of the riots.
He agreed with Mr Ó Dúnlaing that the riot was “one of the most shameful acts in Irish history”.
He acknowledged that Moore made immediate admissions when he was stopped by gardaí during the May protest.
Det Insp Hoare agreed there were different levels of criminality involved in the riot that day which had started on the back of “a horrific attack on a child”.
He acknowledged that many young people had “been whipped up into a frenzy” by ill-informed “malignant narcissists” and “horrific racist commentary” on social media following the attack.
Moore’s mother, Karen Moore, told Mr Ó Dúnlaing that she had pleaded with her son to come home once she had learned he had gone into the city.
She said she was disgusted, embarrassed and ashamed by his behaviour. “He was always raised to respect the law and the gardaí,” she said.
She agreed he has since completed an anti-racism course online and is an apprentice electrician.
Mr Ó Dúnlaing submitted that his client is from a stable family, has positive employment, and is someone who could engage positively in society. A letter of apology was handed to the court.
Judge Orla Crowe remanded him in custody until October 13th next for sentence and ordered the preparation of a report from the Probation Service.
