Woman who orchestrated house fire that killed intellectually disabled man named

Isabella Niki-Harper Ahlawat appears in the Auckland High Court facing charges of wilfully attempting to pervert justice, manslaughter and arson with danger to life. Photo / Michael Craig

The name of an Auckland woman who ensnared 58-year-old Stephen Rhys Ewart in a plan to set fire to her flat can now be revealed.

Isabella Niki-Harper Ahlawat’s five-year name suppression lapsed after the Supreme Court declined to hear her case.

The Court described the circumstances as “extraordinary and highly unusual,” but said, “we do not consider that it is appropriate to grant leave in this case”.

“This was very serious offending, involving the manipulation of a vulnerable individual with impaired intellectual capacity who died as a consequence of the applicant’s actions.”

“There is consequently no risk of a miscarriage of justice if leave to appeal is declined.”

The 32-year-old currently is serving a sentence of five years and eight months’ imprisonment after being found guilty of manslaughter and arson.

Stephen Ewart died in December 2017 after allegedly accidentally setting himself alight.

Just before 6am on December 9, 2017, Stephen Rhys Ewart died of what police described as “accidentally setting himself alight” at a property in Mt Roskill.

His body was found in the fetal position outside the flat where the defendant and her mother were in the process of being evicted from.

Sixteen milk bottles filled with petrol had been placed underneath the home.

Ewart, who was described as having the mental capacity of a 12 to 13-year-old, had accidentally lit himself on fire in the process of committing arson for the defendant, Crown prosecutor David Johnstone told jurors during last year’s trial.

While there was no physical evidence or CCTV footage placing the defendant at the scene, she had used Ewart just a year earlier to lodge a false assault allegation against a man who had helped her father divorce her mother, Johnstone alleged.

“The fire in 2017 was far more likely to have been inspired by [the defendant] rather than Mr Ewart,” he said.

Justice Geoffrey Venning described Ahlawat as clearly having no remorse at all.

“You have not taken any responsibility for your offending.”