Arson at Dargaville care home, resident jailed for 2.5 years

A client of Greenways Trust in Dargaville, set his room alight after being told to hand in his phone for the evening.

Frustration over phone time turned into a raging fire endangering 10 intellectually disabled people asleep at a residential home.

Now the fire starter, who was a resident at the home, has been jailed for two and a half years for wilfully setting fire to a property endangering lives.

Greenways Trust in Dargaville houses individuals with varying intellectual and developmental conditions, providing support and shared accommodations.

An 18-year-old who lives with autism and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), was a housemate and became aggrieved one evening when told to hand his phone over, a nightly requirement.

The young person got into an argument with the house manager then retreated to his room where he packed a bag with paper.

It was about 10pm and most housemates were asleep when he set the bag alight. The fire quickly spread to a jacket hanging on a curtain, setting the wardrobe, wall and ceiling alight.

The house manager found the room ablaze and called emergency services.

The defendant left, shutting the door behind him so the cat wouldn’t enter.

When interviewed by police, he said he was annoyed at being told to go to bed and fled the home stating “why would I remain at the scene of the crime?”.

Crown lawyer Danica Soich told the Whangārei District Court at the sentencing last week people living at the residence were all intellectually disabled, including one who was deaf.

“In cases where fires are lit where people are sleeping, the starting point should be five years,” Soich submitted.

Defence lawyer Chris Muston submitted his client had a rough start to life which began before he was born.

“Not only is he youthful, he was also seriously disadvantaged in a health sense,” Muston submitted.

Muston also submitted that the case was similar to that of Corena Flavell who was recently jailed for 2.5 years for setting fire to her residential care facility.

The court heard the young person is a victim of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder which contributed greatly to his inability to make rational decisions.

Judge Gene Tomlinson said he’d previously heard a district court judge criticise a heavily pregnant woman who had been drinking and taking drugs and commenting on the impact on her unborn child.

“The more I see fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, the more I see it is really selfish.

“It destroys lives before they even get a start. Where he’s come to is not his fault.”

Judge Tomlinson said the defendant had created an unbelievably dangerous situation and it was pure luck no one was killed.

“It’s just so serious.”

Judge Tomlinson acknowledged his mental health ailments were significant but was unable to reach a community-based sentence as he had been charged at the highest arson charge possible of 14 years.

“One of the things [the house manager] was concerned about was that you were still in the room, she would of thought ‘oh my God’, you were going to die,” Judge Tomlinson said.

“The irony of that is, they were worried about you and in fact it was you that caused the harm.”

Judge Tomlinson sentenced the defendant to two years and six months’ imprisonment with some final words.

“The costs to them are significant and while two years doesn’t fix it for the victims it will generally deter you and others from such thoughtless acts.”

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.