May 13, 2013
Two men and a woman decided to firebomb a Kingaroy house after one of the occupants allegedly threatened the woman’s two young children, the District Court sitting in Kingaroy was told today.
Patricia Anne Strachan, 39; Robert Scott Ainsworth, 27; and Wilson Frank Ellis, 40; pleaded guilty to attempted arson, a charge which can bring a maximum penalty of 14 years’ jail.
The Crown alleged that after a verbal argument between Strachan and an occupant of the house over an alleged assault of a friend, the trio collected beer bottles and then went back home and filled them with kerosene to create molotov cocktails. The wicks were fashioned from strips torn from one of Strachan’s dresses.
The trio then drove back to the house, in Avoca Street, on November 26 last year and tossed the bottles at the building.
“The five people in the house at the time heard loud banging noises at the front of the house and smelt kerosene. They saw a small number of fires in the front yard,” Crown Prosecutor Lily Brisick told the sentencing hearing.
Fortunately the bottles bounced off the building without causing any harm.
Strachan, Ainsworth and Ellis also pleaded guilty to charges of manufacturing an explosive without authority and various other summary charges: Ellis and Ainsworth to burglary and stealing; Ellis to theft and fraud; and Strachan to two drugs offences.
They have been held in custody since the November 26 incident.
The court was told all three had criminal histories and Ellis was on parole at the time of the attempted arson.
The Crown said that although Strachan had tried to shoulder the blame for the incident, all three were equally culpable.
“All obtained the material together, all went back to the house together, all formed the plan together and all were involved in the verbal disagreement together as well,” Ms Brisick said.
Barrister Mr Harry Fong, for the accused, said the incident had been the result of an escalating dispute. There had been an allegation of a sexual assault of a friend and one of the occupants of the house had allegedly threatened to hang Strachan’s two young children.
He said it was the act of a protective person to seek revenge however the offence was “entirely unsophisticated” and they were bound to be caught.
Judge Marshall Irwin said the attempted arson charge was a serious offence and a period of imprisonment was required as both a deterrent to Strachan, Ainsworth and Ellis as well as “like-minded members of the community”.
He said there had been allegations of assault and threats but the behaviour of the occupants of the residence “did not in any way justify what you planned and executed together”.
“I accept that your conduct was unsophisticated and amateurish and that it was almost inevitable that you would be caught but that does not diminish the seriousness of your offence,” he said.
Judge Irwin said it was clearly a pre-meditated offence aimed at setting fire to the house to mete out retribution.
He said the trio even discussed which bedrooms in the residence contained the intended victims.
“There was real risk of injury not only to the property but also fatal injury to the persons who were living in the house at that time,” he said.
In sentencing the trio, Judge Irwin took into account the time they had already been held in custody as well as providing a discount for their early plea of guilty.
Ainsworth and Ellis were convicted and sentenced to three years’ jail on the attempted arson charge and 12 months’ jail for burglary and stealing, both sentences to be served concurrently. He set a parole release date of August 28, 2013, for Ainsworth and September 6, 2013, for Ellis.
Strachan was convicted and sentenced to 2 1/2 years jail on the attempted arson charge. She will serve another 45 days in jail before being released from custody on parole.
Convictions were recorded on the other charges with no further punishments imposed.
