A former volunteer firefighter will serve a two-year prison sentence in the community after causing a fire during a total fire ban in Bega, ahead of the black summer forest fires.
Key points:
- Blake William Banner will carry out a two-year intensive correction order to light a fire in 2019
- Police had placed a tracking device on the vehicle of the former volunteer firefighter the day before his arrest.
- The court learned that Banner suffers from depression, anxiety and possible PTSD
Blake William Banner was assigned to a Rural Fire Service brigade on the south coast of NSW when he was accused of lighting seven fires in the Bega Valley between October and November 2019.
The 22-year-old pleaded not guilty to all charges and faced a seven-day trial only by judges in the Bega district court in 2020.
He was acquitted of six of the original charges, but was found guilty of seven counts in August.
Wearing a suit and tie, with his hair pulled back in a ponytail, Banner sat motionless as he appeared Thursday from Bega court via an audiovisual link for sentencing in Sydney District Court.
He was accompanied to court by his parents, Jennifer Westaway and Steven Banner, who are in the service of police officers in the Bega Valley and had provided the court with an alibi for his son for four of the original charges.
Blake William Banner attended Bega local court with his parents for sentencing. (ABC South East: Alasdair McDonald)
In August, Judge Robyn Tupman found Mr. Banner guilty of lighting a fire in a dry riverbed in Bega on November 26, 2019.
The court learned that police had placed a tracking device on Banner’s vehicle the day before.
Judge Tupman referred to Banner’s long and “sometimes unfair” police interview on the day of his arrest, where he admitted that he lit the fire with a clear plastic water bottle as a magnifying glass, a technique that had seen online.
The court heard that Mr Banner tried to prevent the fire from spreading, but panicked and left the scene before returning later with other members of the RFS to help extinguish the fire.
Because of this, Judge Tupman found that Banner intentionally lit the fire during a total fire ban and that he had behaved recklessly fleeing the scene and allowing it to spread potentially.
“Forest fires are a very important issue in Australia,” he told the court.
The remains of the fire lit by Mr. Banner on November 26, 2019. (ABC South East NSW: Peta Doherty)
Judge Tupman also told the court that the defendant had a history of mental health problems, including anxiety, depression and PTSD possibly caused by the death of his brother in a car accident when he was a child.
She told the court that a psychologist had diagnosed her with an autism spectrum limit disorder earlier this year.
Judge Tupman told the court that Banner had also been the subject of “near custody” under his curfew, which barred him from leaving home alone between 8 p.m. and 6 p.m.
She told the court she had shown contrition and remorse, and had told her psychologist that she understood why people in the community showed anger towards him.
Blake William Banner appeared from Bega court via an audiovisual link for his sentencing. (ABC South East NSW: Adriane Reardon)
Judge Tupman told the court his 34-month curfew equates to 12 months in full-time custody.
The court learned that Banner had been harassed at his workplace, where he is an apprentice mechanic, and had been the target of negative comments on social media.
Some friends had also “turned their backs” on him since his arrest, according to the court.
Judge Tupman sentenced Banner to a two-year intensive care order, on the condition that he seek psychological help for his mental health problems.
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