The father of a four-year-old boy who was killed in an arson attack in Edenderry last month has described the last month as the most painful of his life.
Aaron Holt (27), of Castleview Park, appeared before Tullamore Circuit Court on Thursday to be sentenced for drugs offences. He is already serving a sentence for separate drugs offences.
Holt’s son, Tadgh Farrell, and aunt Mary Holt (60) died in an arson attack at Castleview Park on December 6th. Holt’s mother was seriously injured in the attack and remains in hospital.
Mary Holt (60), who was killed in a house in Edenderry, Co Offaly.
Holt was in prison at the time.
A man in his 20s arrested on Wednesday in connection with the arson attack was released without charge on Thursday.
Holt was previously described as being “front and centre” of the drugs trade in and around Edenderry and was refused bail to attend his son’s funeral because of fears he would reoffend and for his own safety.
Holt appeared before Tullamore Circuit Court on Thursday charged on March 11th, 2025, with three offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act, including possession and possession for sale and supply.
These offences related to the discovery of diamorphine to the value of €32,910 at the Castleview Park property. Heroin is a crude preparation of diamorphine. Holt pleaded guilty on June 5th, 2025, to possessing drugs for sale or supply.
Shane O’Neill (26), now living in Tullamore but who formerly lived in Edenderry, appeared as a co-accused and pleaded guilty in October 2025 to possessing drugs for sale or supply.
Garda Trevor Mullins said CCTV footage showed O’Neill exiting 29 Castleview Park and placing a package to the rear of the property on May 8th, 2024.
The following day a search found drugs in the kitchen.
O’Neill’s Edenderry address was also searched, with gardaí discovering a drugs “tick list” belonging to Holt, and drugs.
The court heard the drugs tick list contained names with various amounts of money, including amounts of €10,000 and €5,000, beside each name.
The court heard Holt looked for the deposited drugs on May 9th but they had been seized.
An exchange of messages between Holt and O’Neill had begun at 4am that morning and continued past 7am.
The court saw CCTV footage of Holt and O’Neill searching for the drugs for a number of hours that morning.
David Nugent, barrister for O’Neill, said his client pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and was prepared to face the consequences of his actions.
Judge Keenan Johnson said the case was an illustration of the scourge of illicit drugs. He pointed to the value of the drugs tick list recovered by gardaí as indicative of how deep-seated the problem is.
Judge Johnson said he would need to consider the evidence. He adjourned the matter to January 27th.
Before concluding matters the judge offered his condolences to Mr Holt for his loss for which Mr Holt thanked the judge.