DAMIEN TIERNAN: I knew Philip English long before he was murdered with his family in Waterford. What he texted me at 4.17am four weeks ago now sends chills down my spine

Published: 17:51 EDT, 14 October 2026 | Updated: 17:51 EDT, 14 October 2026

‘PLEASE call me, it’s urgent. My car got petrol bombed.’

Philip English sent me that text message at 4.17am on Friday, September 18, as dawn was breaking. He was frightened and worried for his children.

Long shadows appeared as he looked at his badly damaged car. The culprits disappeared into the shadows –but they’d be back. I rang Philip that morning. He spoke about how the car was destroyed and how worried he was, especially for his children.

‘It could have fully caught fire and could’ve burned the house down,’ he said.

Philip said he was going to meet the Guards, that he’d keep in touch.

The following Monday, gardaí appealed for information on Garda Watch on our local radio station WLR FM.

That’s what we know but there is so much we don’t know.

How extensive were the Garda investigations after that attack?

Did they link it to a ‘paint attack’ on the car in August 2023? Had they suspects?

Philip was a big, wonderful man who had been through a lot. He had relationships in the past and had grown-up children.

He was madly in love with Kim and they had four wonderful children: Callum, Jayden, Nadia and Elliot. Philip worked hard in security and other jobs, was never involved in drugs and did his best to raise their children, who loved them intensely.

The text Philip sent to Damien Tiernan of WLR FM

Nadia has leukaemia and they were up and down to Crumlin children’s hospital the past few years and needed a specially adapted car as Jayden had heart issues.

They did everything for their children and loved each other immensely.

I know that because I knew Philip. He contacted me a few years ago about a deeply personal story from his childhood and I put him in touch with a friend who helped him.

Less than four weeks after the paint attack, at around 5am on Tuesday, at least one person attacked their well-kept, three-bedroom home in the Birchwood estate in Waterford city, as the family slept inside.

Their car was set on fire. And then the glass panel at the front door was smashed. A petrol bomb was thrown in.

Floral tributes left at the English family’s home after this week’s firebombing

It exploded, fuel splashing everywhere, the stairs catching fire immediately.

The house quickly filled with thick black smoke. They woke. They couldn’t get down the stairs. The flames and smoke woke the neighbours. They couldn’t get in. Philip broke windows at the back of the house.

Screams for help echoed around the estate. Horror. Neighbours tried everything. They shouted up at him to get the children and throw them out the window and they’d catch them.

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