Sam Kawe sentenced after attempted arson of Nelson home with diesel Molotov cocktails

Sam Kawe was sentenced for making Molotov cocktails in an attempt to burn down a house. Photo / AP, File

A man enraged after an altercation at a house where he’d been drinking tried burning it down by throwing a Molotov cocktail at the back door.

Sam Kawe’s plan fizzled when the petrol he thought he had used to make the device turned out to be diesel, which is harder to ignite.

It went further awry when his efforts to make more of the cocktails, using fuel siphoned from a nearby digger, were intercepted by a member of the public.

While being restrained, Kawe then threatened to burn down that person’s house.

“l know where you live. I will burn down your house,” he said.

It led to charges of attempted arson, burglary and threatening a dwelling, for which Kawe was sentenced to five months’ home detention at a recent hearing in the Nelson District Court.

Kawe appeared apologetic while in the dock, and politely thanked Judge Jo Rielly when sentencing was over.

“What you did on that day was very concerning, but you are a person who, for the most part, contributes to the community in a very positive way,” Judge Rielly said in calculating his final sentence, from a starting point of nine months in prison.

Kawe had already spent 45 days in custody on remand and four months on electronically monitored bail, which was factored into the end sentence.

Judge Rielly also noted his prior convictions, which showed alcohol had “got him into trouble several times”.

‘Came off second best’

The court heard that, on the evening of November 29 last year, Kawe was at a house in Nelson where an argument broke out between him and others.

Crown prosecutor Daniel Baxter said the argument turned physical and Kawe “came off second-best”.

“It may have spurred him into the action he might not normally have done,” Baxter said.

Sam Kawe was sentenced in Nelson District Court. Photo / Tracy Neal

Defence lawyer Josh Friend said there had been an incident which resulted in Kawe being injured and “spurred him into the ridiculous action”.

Kawe left the house and went to a nearby building site, where a digger was parked in the enclosed construction area.

He siphoned diesel from the machine and used the fuel to make a Molotov cocktail, the summary of facts said.

Kawe went back to the house where he’d had the argument, lit the wick of the Molotov and threw it near the back door of the property.

Judge Rielly said the absence of information about the extent to which the Molotov ignited implied that little damage was caused.

Kawe then returned to the construction site, made four more Molotov cocktails and filled a 20-litre weed-spraying backpack with more diesel.

A member of the public saw what was happening and confronted Kawe before chasing him to the address he had tried to burn down.

Kawe’s partner stopped him from using the extra Molotovs while two people restrained him until police arrived.

It was then that he threatened to burn down the house of the person restraining him.

He later told police he was assaulted by an occupant at the house where he’d been earlier in the night.

He said he “wanted to burn down their house”, so he filled up bottles and a can with what he believed was petrol from the building site.

Judge Rielly said there was a level of planning and premeditation involved, and it was concerning that Kawe had gone back to the building site to arm himself and continue his criminal pursuit.

The judge could not ignore that, at the time, Kawe was influenced by alcohol, and while that did not mitigate his behaviour, it likely affected his ability to make sound judgments.

She also noted events at the address where Kawe had been harmed likely prompted him to feel a sense of rage.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.