New South Coast man Harley Thompson, accused of murdering his neighbor in a house fire, has not been found criminally responsible for the death.
Key points:
- Harley Thompson set his neighbor’s house on fire in July 2020
- The Supreme Court accepted evidence of his mental illness
- He has been detained under the supervision of the Mental Health Review Tribunal
The 27-year-old sat at Kempsey Central North Coast Correctional Center watching the verdict via video link today as it was read at the Supreme Court in Nowra.
Dressed in prison greens with a shaved head and a mullet, he was calm and still during the proceedings.
Thompson initially lied to police about starting the fire on July 31, 2020, but later admitted he did.
Cameron Johnston, 49, died in the fire.
Thompson had repeatedly threatened Mr Johnson at his Bomaderry home on the night of the fire, smashing windows and shouting profanity-laced abuse at the man he did not know.
Phone records show Mr Johnson had called the police and his housing provider in the night to report what was happening and that he and his son were “terrified with almost all the windows broken”.
Mr Thompson then “threw” petrol through the windows of the house and set the curtains on fire.
Neighbors gave evidence that they heard Mr Johnston’s son shouting “Dad, dad, dad” and a short time later they heard Mr Thompson shout “Burn, burn”.
They said he then laughed while looking almost emotional.
An autopsy found Mr Johnston died of carbon monoxide toxicity and had suffered burns to several areas of his body.
Mr Thompson’s lawyers said during a trial in recent weeks that he was not responsible for the crime because he had mental health problems.
Prosecutors argued that she had faked her symptoms.
The Supreme Court verdict was delivered at the Nowra courthouse. (ABC Illawarra: Ainslie Druitt-Smith)
‘Satisfied’ with mental health advocacy
In his verdict, Judge Michael Walton said he accepted the evidence provided by two expert psychiatrists, as well as the clinical assessments.
They diagnosed Mr Thompson with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder or depression with psychotic features.
He created great delusions and auditory hallucinations.
An expert suggested the symptoms had been present when Mr Thompson was admitted to hospital in Victoria in November 2019.
Dr Andrew Ellis gave evidence that Mr Thompson’s symptom of echo des pensée, which he described as “a very technical psychiatric term for hearing your own thoughts out loud”, was not identified at the time.
Judge Walton told the court after considering all the evidence that he was “satisfied that the defense of impaired mental health is established”.
“She experienced temporary or continuing disturbances of thought, perception, mood and, most importantly, memory,” Judge Walton told the court.
“The experts felt that the disorders are important for clinical diagnostic purposes and the disorders significantly affect judgment.”
He said while Mr Thompson also had a substance abuse problem, his impairment was his underlying mental health condition.
“I am satisfied that the defendant knew the nature and quality of his act but did not reason with a moderate degree of sanity and composure as to whether the act, as perceived by a reasonable person, was wrong,” said the Judge Walton.
“The verdict that will be given to the prosecution is ‘act proven but not criminally responsible'”.
A victim impact statement from Mr Johnston’s son, who was watching the verdict via video link, was presented but not read out in court.
“I extend the condolences of the court and the community to Mr Johnston’s family and friends and in particular to Mr Johnston’s father, brother and son,” Judge Walton said.
Justice ordered Mr Thompson to be detained and under the supervision of the Mental Health Review Tribunal due to his escalating history of mental illness.
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