‘BURNT OUT’ | 

Brother of killer Derek ‘the Panther’ Clarke jailed for arson attack on Romanian family

There were children in the house on the night he started the first fire and he continued to set more blazes over the following days

Yesterday at 08:00

THE brother of notorious killer and sex predator Derek ‘the Panther’ Clarke has been jailed for burning a Romanian family out of their home because he didn’t want them living beside him.

Declan Clarke (41), who is originally from Drogheda but ironically moved to Dundalk after his own family were burnt out of their home, carried out arson attacks on a Romanian family’s home for five nights in a row in September 2021.

There were children in the house on the night he started the first fire and he continued to set more blazes over the following days. The final blaze caused €420,000 worth of damage to the Romanian family’s home and neighbouring property at Rockfield Manor, Hoey’s Lane, Dundalk.

We can reveal Declan Clarke is a brother of notorious predator Derek ‘the Panther’ Clarke who earned his nickname from stalking women who walked home alone at night and sexually assaulting them.

Derek Clarke had been involved in various crimes in his youth and by the time he turned 18 he was appearing in court where a judge said he had got underage girls in the care system involved in a “appallingly sordid subculture in the back lanes of Drogheda”.

He had befriended the teenagers, who he used to help him rob a man in Drogheda. Clarke got the man in a headlock while one of the girl’s robbed £100 from his pocket​

In 2002, he was jailed for four years after being convicted of sexually assaulting four women between January 29 and March 25, 2000. He preyed on them in laneways as they returned from nights out.

His parent’s home in Moneymore, Drogheda, where Declan also lived, was firebombed after he pleaded guilty to the assaults. ​

When Derek was released from prison in January 2014, he was rarely far from trouble.

After he returned to Moneymore hundreds of locals signed a petition which was submitted to the local council calling for him to be moved out of the estate.​

One of those who collected signatures for the petition was then targeted in a campaign of intimidation which included her front window being smashed and her car damaged.

Derek was shot in the leg following a row in Moneymore in March 2014.

It is understood that incident stemmed from a row after he refused to get off a wall in the estate.

On July 12, 2004, Derek killed a 57-year-old man who he attacked and beat to death on a Dublin street. Clarke tried to claim in court that he attacked Martin Reilly because he sexually assaulted his girlfriend. The court heard there was no evidence to back up this claim.

He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to six years. The court heard he had 15 previous convictions at the time.

Since his release from prison he has been spotted befriending vulnerable women with learning difficulties, raising further concerns about his behaviour.

Gardaí arrested Derek in 2018 and questioned him about an imitation firearm and cannabis they found after raiding his home.

After his release from custody his family home in Moneymore was once again damaged in a petrol bomb attack. Other innocent family members’ homes were firebombed around the same time as well.​

As a result of the firebomb attacks, one of Clarke’s innocent sisters then moved to Rockfield Manor, Hoey’s Lane, Dundalk, where Declan also came to live with her.

He took against the Romanian family living in the estate and hatched his plan to burn them out. There was a racial element to the attack and Declan perceived the family had been mocking him over having one arm.

Declan lost an arm aged 15 when he grabbed wires from a burned tyre which had been thrown across a 10,000 volt live cable.​

He was sentenced to six years and nine months with the final 18 months suspended