Man set fire to friend's car as favour

Aaron Bellamy set fire to a friend's car to help her claim more than $11,000 in insurance.

The 22-year-old from Thames appeared in the Rotorua District Court this week after previously pleading guilty to a charge of arson. He had also previously pleaded guilty to charges of theft, driving with an excess blood alcohol level and unlawfully being in an area of the Hamilton Gardens.

Judge Phillip Cooper sentenced Bellamy to 17 months' jail and ordered him to pay reparation of $2844.

Judge Cooper said on July 31 last year a car belonging to a friend of Bellamy's was taken to a farm road in Tokoroa where Bellamy poured petrol over it and deliberately set fire to it so his friend could claim insurance.

The owner of the car reported it missing and was paid out $11,366 in insurance.

Judge Cooper said he had seen a victim impact report from the insurance company which talked about the impact on insurance premiums from this sort of offending.

Bellamy also stole almost a tonne of railway iron and sold it as scrap metal for $295.

The court was told that on July 10 he was caught driving with a blood alcohol level of 133mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 80mg. This was his fifth conviction for drink-driving.

Judge Cooper said he had seen a letter from Bellamy in which he had said he regretted his actions and wanted to turn his life around.

The judge said Bellamy did not receive anything financially from the insurance payout and his motive was to help a friend to defraud an insurance company.

A co-offender was sentenced to nine months' jail.