A sex worker has admitted in tears that she lit a fire that killed a couple and their daughter in a house fire in the south-west suburbs of Melbourne.
On Wednesday, Jenny Hayes pleaded guilty to three counts of arson due to fire on a Point Cook property on December 2, 2020, killing 19-year-old Abbey Forrest, 28-year-old Inderpal Singh. , and her three-week-old daughter, Ivy.
Abbey Forrest, Inderpal Singh and their daughter Ivy.
Hayes wept as he pleaded guilty to each charge while on a video link from prison before the Supreme Court, while relatives of the victims watched the hearing online.
Forrest and Singh moved into the Totem Way home during the weeks leading up to the fire, around the time Ivy was born.
Neighbors who saw the frantic fire tried to throw an ax and throw stones through a jammed upstairs window when they heard screams for help. The young family could not be saved.
Hayes last year pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and was due to stand trial, but pleaded guilty to the minor charges after negotiations between his lawyers and prosecutors.
The aftermath of the deadly fire at Point Cook. Credit: Paul Jeffers
Judicial registrar Tim Freeman left the trial when the woman pleaded guilty to the minor charges, which carry a maximum of 25 years in prison.
Fire caused by death is a charge similar to manslaughter, where the defendant did not intend to cause someone’s death and applies to a fire that is deliberately ignited.