Jamie Lawton, you have pleaded guilty to 1 charge of arson.
[2]
Prior to the offending you had been in a relationship with a man named Anthony Scott. At the time of offending, you were 29 years old and Mr Scott was 56. This relationship lasted around 18 months and for some of the relationship you lived with Mr Scott at 9 Rosewood Court, the site of the offending. The relationship ended in June 2023. Some contact was maintained, including frequent text messages and infrequent in person meetings. In October 2023 a Family Violence Intervention Order was granted protecting you from any contact with Mr Scott.
On 5 February 2024 a large number of heated text messages and phone calls were exchanged between you and Mr Scott.
At around 9:30 pm you left your home in Sebastopol on a Segway scooter. You arrived at Mr Scott's address, 9 Rosewood Court, around 30 minutes later.
At 10:03 pm a text exchange occurred, in which Mr Scott told you he had left a bag on the fence for you to collect. You responded with '' and ''
U lil bitch
Guess what ant u won't have a place left.
You parked the scooter in grassland on Greenhill Road, behind Mr Scott's home. You entered the property by jumping over the rear boundary fence. You found some of his clothes and threw them under a vehicle parked in the back yard. You kicked some recently installed fence panels, indenting them with your foot. All of this conduct is not the subject of a charge.
You searched along the side fence for you belongings, but could not find them. It is unclear whether Mr Scott had actually left your belongings where he said he had. You became angry when you could not find your things. You entered the house by an unlocked sliding door at the rear.
While you were inside the house a further exchange of text messages occurred. At 10:10 pm you texted Mr Scott 'Bout to say goodbye u don't need this place any ways.' Mr Scott responded at 10:25pm 'I'm not running out there anymore I haven't got money or anyone to take me.'
You replied at 10:26pm 'Sorry for the smell ant coz u got about 2 seconds b4 I find a lighter.' And 10:27pm Mr Scott replied 'I cant get out there an u have me doin this all the time if you do that you will be sorry.' At 10:28pm you said 'Nah ant I'm not sorry.'
At some point you found a small petrol generator in the lounge room. You dragged this into the master bedroom, unscrewed the fuel cap and tipped the contents onto Mr Scott's bed. You maintained, when interviewed, that there was only a very small amount of fuel in the generator. You told the police you wanted Mr Scott to smell the fuel.
You also found personal letters you have written to Mr Scott. You tore them up, and used a cigarette lighter to set fire to the paper. You threw the lit paper onto the bed. This caused an immediate explosion and the bedroom was engulfed in flames.
You ran in fear to the front of the house and escaped through a window. It would appear this happened around 15 minutes after the series of messages at 10.26 to 10.28 pm, as a neighbour saw you leaving, and the house up in flames at around 10.45 pm.
You returned to the Segway, and rode back to Sebastopol.
Police attended the scene at 10:53pm. At 11:28pm the Mt Helen Fire Brigade was paged to the scene. Mr Scott was present by this point, and told the fire brigade that he may have left the stove on after using it to cook a steak. The kitchen was observed by the attending fire brigade to be largely unaffected. Mr Scott refused to provide a statement to police.
At 1:40am Police attended your home, where they arrested you and brought you to Ballarat Police Station for an interview. You told police that Mr Scott was your ex-partner, and that you were shortly moving into a safe house as a result of family violence committed by him. You reported that he had been sitting in a car outside your home regularly.
You told the officers that you had gone to Mr Scott's home using the Segway to retrieve personal items, including a laptop and wallet, which you had been told were left in a bag on the fence, but you could not find this bag. You admitted that you were angry, and had an argument with Mr Scott over the phone. You initially denied setting anything on fire, but later admitted that you lit the paper. You said that you wanted Mr Scott to smell the fuel and that you lit the fire not to hurt him but to get his attention, to make him take you seriously.
It is accepted by the prosecution that your intention was limited to destroying Mr Scott's bed, and the items upon it, not the house itself. It was agreed by both parties that you were reckless as to damage to the house. That is you knew it was probable that the house would be also damaged, but went ahead anyway.
Judging by the photos, various personal items belonging to Mr Scott would have been damaged or destroyed. The house itself suffered significant damage, centred on the bedroom. The entire property had been valued at around $480,000 for the period 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023, with the house itself valued at around $200,000. The property had been restrained under the Confiscation Act as it had been purchased with proceeds of crime.
[3]
You were born in 1994 in Mordialloc and are now 31 years old. When you were but an infant your mother was involved in a serious motor vehicle accident, suffering a very severe acquired brain injury. She had significant loss of memory, and could not care for herself or her children. Your father took custody of your brother, and you and your sister went in foster care when you were toddlers, into different homes.
You recall that when you were very young you attended many different schools, and that you stayed in different foster homes. You do not recall ever spending long periods with any particular family. You have not reported any outright abuse.
Until you were 12 you did not know anything about either of your parents, or that you had siblings, until you met your grandmother, and she introduced you to your mother. You mother was in prison at this time, and had serious issues surrounding substance abuse. She also had a criminal history.
Not long after she initiated contact with you, your grandmother obtained custody of you and your sister. In 2007 you met your father for the first time since you were put into foster care. You were 13 years old.
When your mother was released from prison she joined you in your grandmother's home. There was an incident that involved your mother, and you were sent to live with your father in Baxter. Your sister joined you living there a year.
You went to high school in Frankston. In 2009 at around age 14 or 15 you had a dispute with a friend, resulting in you being charged with affray and being expelled from school.
Your father become abusive, and at around age 16 you ran away from home. You lived with an aunt, in Noble Park. At age 16 you met the father of your daughter and fell pregnant. You were 17 years old when your daughter was born, in 2012.
Whilst pregnant, you lived for a short time with your mother in a caravan park in Geelong. Your daughter's father is not and has never been involved in her life. He now a registered sex offender, and so has no contact with you or your daughter.
Your mother moved to Bendigo, in 2012, when you were 17 and you lived with her there when your daughter was born. From 2012 to 2014 you lived by yourself, in your own house in Bendigo, raising your daughter. This period was relatively stable, and you gained some work experience working in a fish and chip shop and waitressing, and you did a cooking course.
You began to use substances and commit low-level thefts. In 2015 you lost custody of your daughter to DHS. It was very traumatic for you to lose the care of your child. You believe this was related to your daughter 's father trying to get involved in your lives. She was placed with two difference foster families, then into your mother's care.
After you lost custody of your daughter you also lost your accommodation, your drug use increased, and you were living in your car. Between 2015 and 2018 you were involved in numerous driving, theft, and drug offences. Your first time in jail was in December 2016.
Upon your release you resumed a dysfunctional lifestyle, and found yourself in a series of dysfunctional relationships characterised by family violence. You began using methamphetamine at this time. This unstable period in your life led to your being sentenced in 2019, when you were around 25 years old, for theft, and driving whilst pursed by the police.
At end of that term of 6 months' imprisonment in 2019, you were clean of drug and you moved to Pakenham, to get away from your old associates. Your daughter was 8 years old, living with an aunt in Ballarat. You eventually won custody of her again, and she has been in your care since 2020. You moved to Ballarat as DHS wanted you to move to the area to ensure continuity for your daughter.
Your life was relatively stable, over Covid-19, but in around 2022, you met Anthony Scott, began a relationship with him. You and your daughter lived with him for a while, in the house that is the subject of the charge.
You attempted to get your driver's license, and obtained your Learner's and Probationary Licenses. You were involved in series of driving-related offending in November 2023. You previously owned a car, which you have now sold.
You were involved in an incident where your car was pulled over, and a large amount of Scott's money was found in the car. Bail conditions were imposed regarding that offending. You breached your bail conditions, and were sentenced to 21 days' imprisonment in August 2023. The cash from that incident was forfeited.
After that incident you say your relationship with Scott changed. He became violent, and you report many incidents of physical abuse. You had been living together for around a year at this point. In October 2023, he effectively committed an aggravated burglary on the house which you and your daughter were in. A full non-contact intervention order was granted, however Scott would sit in his car outside your house, intimidating you. This conduct is the context for the offending for which I must sentence you.
Between February and July 2024 you took part in CISP program whilst on bail. A report indicates that your engagement with the program was strong, although you continued to use ice and disengaged from the alcohol and drug treatment supports offered. You said you had accessed psychological support in the past and would be open to doing so again.
You now live in Wendouree with your daughter and aunt. Your parenting payments from Centrelink have resumed. You have completed some work for an arborist, although you are currently unemployed. You are good with your hands and build small mechanical items, such as a go-kart. You hope to gain employment if you can. You have told the court through your counsel and your priority is caring for your daughter.
[4]
You indicated that you would plead guilty following the first Sentencing Indication Hearing, which took place the day before further pre-trial argument was to occur. Although the plea was relatively late in the proceedings, you are entitled to a real discount in your sentence, as you have saved the time and effort of the Court and witnesses.
[5]
No Victim Impact Statement was tendered at the plea, however this is no indication that your actions did not have consequences. As a result of your offending, significant damage was done to the property, and also to the personal belongings of Mr Scott.
[6]
Your counsel accepted that the offending was inherently serious. It was submitted at the plea that within the scope of arson offences there are a number of factors which mitigate the seriousness of the charge, which included:
[7]
(a) That you were reckless, rather than intentional in your conduct;
(b) The offending relates to a single instance of arson;
(c) The likely approximate quantum of damages was around $200,000, which your counsel argued was significant but not at the 'higher end';
(d) That you had a low level of premeditation - despite your threats in the messages the decision to set the paper on fire was arrived at only after you were in the house;
(e) The premises were empty, and the risk of the fire spreading was lower than it would have been had it been a unit in a block of apartments; and
(f) While it was acknowledged that the use of an accelerant increases the seriousness, it was argued that you said there was not much petrol in the generator, and that this method was improvised and unsophisticated.
[8]
Your counsel argued that the context and motive for the offending significantly reduces your moral culpability. It was said that you were attempting to overcome a sense of humiliation and powerlessness in a context of serious domestic violence at the hands of Mr Scott. I was told that you were attempting to gain a sense of control by this conduct, and that it was not retribution.
I accept the absence of pre-planning and the relatively spontaneous decision to light the fire was the product of your frustration with Mr Scott and feeling powerless and manipulated, in the context of significant family violence and ongoing breaches of the FVIO by him. I accept therefore that your culpability is lower than a pre-planned arson, carried out for gain or revenge.
[9]
You have an extensive criminal history, having been convicted of numerous driving, drug, and dishonesty offences, for which you have received CCOs and jail sentences. You have a history of breaching court orders. On the other hand, you have no priors for arson or criminal damage.
[10]
Your counsel submitted that the general application of Bugmy applies to the circumstances of your upbringing.
[T]he profound dysfunction, disadvantage and abuse experienced by the [offender] during his formative years were relevant to an appropriate evaluation of his moral culpability. As recognised by the High Court in Bugmy, those experiences, none of which were of his making, all played a significant role in shaping the respondent's personality and his responses. As a consequence, his subjective culpability for the offending in which he engaged could not be equated with that of a person who committed the same offence but had had the advantage of a normal, stable and regular home environment during his or her childhood years.
[12]
No causal nexus is required.
As a very young child you were moved from foster home to foster home, with no knowledge as to why, and as to why your parents were not able to look after you. I accept that this will have caused a sense of dislocation, and you will not have had the sense of safety and certainty which a stable childhood can bring. Then, when you were a young adolescent and through your teens your life had to cope with your mother's dysfunction and the abusive conduct of your father.
I accept therefore that the principles articulated in Bugmy have application in your case, reducing your culpability.
On the other hand, you have underlying issues that you will need to deal with to address your rather chaotic life and your drug use.
[13]
Defence counsel provided a list of other sentences imposed for arson where either a CCO alone or a combination sentence was imposed. I accept that your case is comparable to those previous matters, noting in particular you being reckless as to the full extent of the damage, your lowered culpability for other reasons, the value of the house, the lack of premeditation, and the lower risk of the fire harming other people or property.
[14]
Having regard to the matters I have set out, I consider it is in the best interests of the community if you are given the opportunity to progress your rehabilitation. You have a strong motivation to sort yourself out and address your issues - not only to stay out of prison but also to be a better role model and mother for your daughter.
I will therefore impose, with conviction, a CCO of 2 years' duration with the following conditions:
200 hours of community work (s48C)
Assessment and treatment for drug abuse and mental health (s48D)