A man was trying to destroy evidence of a fuel theft when he started a fire that ravaged more than 1,000 acres of land in the Tamworth region, a court has heard.
Key points:
- A man has been jailed for 12 months for causing a forest fire in the Tamworth region
- He was 17 at the time of the crime in October 2019
- The court learned that he had been self-medicating his depression since childhood
An NSW juvenile court heard Tuesday that he and an accomplice stole 200 gallons of diesel from a forest excavator near Hanging Rock in late October 26, 2019.
The man, whose identity cannot be released because he was 17 at the time, took his own containers to the site where they had fuel leaks and carried the drums to the back of his escape vehicle.
Some remaining fuel caught fire with a lighter before the couple left the scene to go camping.
The fire destroyed 1,042 hectares of the Tamworth region, including parts of Nundle State Forest and a commercial pine plantation.
The cost of the damage was estimated at between $ 1.1 million and $ 1.7 million.
The young man, now 20, pleaded guilty to two charges last year, including causing a deliberate arson and being reckless with his spread and theft worth more than $ 2,000.
The magistrate said the crime was very serious.
“To put it in perspective, about 10.42 square kilometers have been destroyed,” the magistrate said.
“Extremely sorry”
The man’s defense attorney, Kimberley Norquay-Evans, said the client’s intent was only to destroy evidence of the fuel theft.
“I accept the extent of the damage, but the only consequences should be for acts that could have been reasonably foreseen,” Norquay-Evans said.
“Any level of planning was just to destroy the evidence.”
He said there was no level of planning to light the biggest fire that spread.
“He’s very sorry,” he said.
This was quickly dismissed by the magistrate, who said the incident was reckless.
“I had taken a lighter,” the magistrate said.
“It simply came to our notice then.
“It’s reckless to light something for no reason.”
The court learned that the then teenager had been self-medicating his depression since childhood with alcohol and cannabis.
He had no criminal record.
The magistrate sentenced him to 12 months in prison, in order to be eligible for parole in five months.