A man who admitted killing three generations of the same family including a baby in a horrific County Fermanagh blaze will serve a minimum 29 years in prison before he can be considered for release. Daniel Sebastian Allen (32) whose address was previously the scene of the incident at Molly Road, Derrylin but now given as Maghaberry Prison, has remained in custody since his arrest. He was in a relationship with Denise Gossett (45) whom he lived with in the property when the incident occurred on 27 February 2018, along with her son Roman (16), daughter Sabrina (19) and her baby Morgana Quinn. All charges were denied and after protracted proceedings a defence barrister would confirm a consultant psychiatrist conducted an examination of Allen which, “Does not support diminished responsibility and we no longer have evidence to support that.” A trial date was set but on the morning this was to begin at Dungannon Crown Court sitting in Craigavon, Allen charged his pleas and admitted murdering Sabrina, Roman and baby Morgana. He admitted manslaughter in respect of Denise, by way of suicide pact and arson endangering life. On that occasion Mr Justice O’Hara told Allen, "You have pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and I sentence you to life imprisonment."
The case was adjourned for pre-sentence reports and on return today (Tuesday) Judge O’Hara said while the guilty pleas to murder were central, “The manslaughter and arson matters are also important because they demonstrate additional criminal conduct over and above the murders and show just how serious the crimes were" Describing the factual back ground as “unusual Judge O’Hara set out how Allen contended he had agreed to die in a suicide pact with Denise and Sabrina had administered fatal doses of GHB to Roman and Morgana “In circumstances of which he was aware”. On that basis he accepted murder “as a secondary party". He claimed to have killed Sabrina by strangulation and asserted he had discussed suicide with her but this was insufficient to amount to a pact, and on that basis he pleaded guilty to her murder. The fire was contended to be part of the pact between Allen and Denise, however the Judge stressed there were a number of issues around aspects of the case as there was no independent evidence and in some respects, “Is contradicted by any sensible interpretation.” While highly unsatisfactory, “The fact is the only person involved in these offences who is still alive is the defendant and I express my scepticism and doubt about his version of events, which have repeatedly changed.” He claimed to have handcuffed Denise to the bed and planned to go back to her after he started the fire and handcuff himself to her and die with however "
It was acknowledged Allen had a difficult upbringing but much of the background on that was from his own account and “May not be entirely accurate as his versions cannot be relied upon”. Judge O’Hare said the murder scene at the Derrylin property had been rented 14 months before the incident. Allen met Denise in 2016 online through a shared interest in sexual activity involving the use of physical restraint and the granting and relinquishing of control. He told a consultant psychiatrist they had regular sex using handcuffs and ropes. Allen claimed Denise had changed her surname to Gossett in order to avoid her ex-partner who had been threatening her. Whether this was true or not it was accepted from 2017 she had been avoiding social workers and apart from her children who died in the fire, she had others who were in care. They initially moved to Scotland, then County Kerry but Social Services became alert to an issue and they moved to County Cavan then onto Derrylin.
In February 2018 Social Services in Northern Ireland also became aware of their presence and "were on the verge of intervening". It was noted Roman in particular must have had a "miserable life as he wasn't attending school, was denied teenage companionship and shunted from one place to another." Judge O'Hara said, "Nobody in this unit of five people which cannot sensibly be described as a family, worked or went to school. They did not socialise and lived off state benefits. Their groceries were delivered which would be left outside the property as no access was allowed inside." While Allen was transferred to a psychiatric unit for a time while remanded in custody after a period of assessment it was decided he did not suffer from a mental health condition which required in-patient treatment of detection. It is accepted Allen suffers from some level of mental illness; he was not paranoid schizophrenic as he claimed and was found to be capable of knowing what he had done was wrong and "Has not told the truth about the whole sequence of events." Initially handing down a term of 33 years, Judge O'Hare reduced this to 29 years on the basis of Allen's admissions, saving the necessity for a trial. Taking account of time served on remand it will be 2047 before Allen may be considered for parole.
