Fears are growing that the petrol-bomb attack which killed four members of a Waterford family could trigger further violence, after the son of one victim claimed it was linked to a €20,000 drug debt.
Kim English, who was in her 30s, her husband Philip, in his 50s, and their sons Callum, 12, and Jayden, nine, died after their home in the Birchwood estate, around 3km from Waterford city centre, was set alight in the early hours of Tuesday.
Philip’s son, John James English, told RTÉ that his family had endured years of intimidation from gangland figures in the city over a drug debt allegedly owed by another person. He said the home of his mother, Anne, Philip’s former wife, had also previously been targeted in a petrol-bomb attack.
Nadia, 14, and Elliot, six, Philip and Kim’s two other children, remain in a critical condition in hospital after the devastating blaze shocked the nation.
More than 100 members of the community gathered at the scene of the quadruple murder on Wednesday, releasing balloons in memory of the four victims.
Philip’s father, Paddy, wept as You’ll Never Walk Alone played from a car stereo while the balloons rose into the sky.
Hundreds of mourners later attended a vigil at the nearby Sacred Heart Church to pay their respects.
Gardaí investigating the deaths believe three brothers linked to a significant organised crime gang ordered the attack. Sources have stressed that the English family were “totally innocent people”.
Philip and Kim English with their children, including Callum, left, and Jayden, centre
Kim and Philip died in the blaze in the early hours of Tuesday morning in the Birchwood estate, 3km from Waterford city centre
A burnt-out window in the family home in Birch Avenue
Gardaí believe the family was targeted because someone known to them had accumulated the debt. That man has since gone into hiding as officers conducted a series of raids across the Waterford area.
One suspect has reportedly left the jurisdiction. All three men are well known for allegedly collecting drug debts and carrying out violence and intimidation against people who owe money, as well as their families.
During the searches, gardaí seized cars, mobile phones and other electronic devices. Investigators are also examining whether a woman known to them drove to the scene with another person who carried out the attack.
In a statement, gardaí said they believe some people know who was responsible and urged them to come forward.
Security sources said officers were concerned that the attack on the innocent family could lead to further violence.
A senior source said: “I want there to be no doubt whatsoever here. The people who were killed were completely innocent.
“They were targeted because they knew someone who had owed the gang money for a considerable period of time.
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“The last thing gardaí want to see is more violence, but tensions are extremely high right now. So many people are grieving and they are angry, rightly so.
“But gardaí have seen before how an incident of this scale can result in further bloodshed.”
On Wednesday afternoon, James English, an uncle of Philip, said: ‘Well, whoever knows, you’d want to turn up and own up whoever’s done it.
‘At the end of the day, we have a lot of the family now wiped out.
‘Please, whoever’s done it, own up. Be a man and own up for what you have done.’
He said Nadia and Elliot are ‘not good’ in hospital.
Forensic officers at the scene of an overnight fire in the Birchwood estate in Waterford City
Police at the scene of an overnight fire in the Birchwood estate in Waterford City, Ireland
The English family have endured a campaign of intimidation for years at the hands of a gang of thugs. Only three weeks before the fatal attack, the family car had been targeted with a petrol bomb. Nobody was injured in that incident.
Speaking at the balloon release, Philip’s ex-wife Anne said they were a happy family.
‘I just have no words. I’m lost and I’m going to be lost without them,’ she said.
‘She [Kim] is my best friend. We were very, very close. I heard when I got a phone call from one of my family and I jumped out of my bed.
‘Since then I am numb. I am just shocked. The family is very close. Very happy.’
Ray Power, who is Philip’s cousin, urged the younger people of Waterford not to get caught up in the criminal lifestyle.
He described the rampant drug use in the city as a ‘demon’ which comes into homes and destroys them.
He said: ‘You’d be better off going off into a different country, going off and enjoying life, and enjoying yourself instead of looking up to that [dealers], because they’ll use you. They don’t care about you.’
In the latest Garda statement regarding the murders, a spokesman said: ‘The investigation is intense in nature and very active with multiple searches being carried out across a number of premises in Waterford city yesterday evening.
‘A number of electronic devices and vehicles have been seized which are now subject of technical examination. There have been no arrests at this time.’
