Jealousy fuelled arson attack on house
File image. © Andrew Bardwell
Seven people were inside the Christchurch house where Anthony Bruce O’Riley threw a Molotov cocktail in a fit of jealous rage.
The Crown disputed a defence claim that the fire was quickly discovered and there had been no danger to life in the attack on September 4, 2012.
Crown prosecutor Deidre Orchard said it was “pure good luck” that one of the main targets of the arson attack – his former partner’s new lover – had not been able to get to sleep.
The firebomb that set fire to the curtain and bedding was quickly put out with the help of a flatmate with a fire extinguisher and then more fires were found on the decking outside and beneath a car.
Total damage was $600 but the former partner had lost her tenancy of the property as a result of 49-year-old O’Riley’s actions.
Christchurch District Court Judge Jane Farish said O’Riley’s behaviour – fuelled by sexual jealousy at a time when he was using alcohol instead of his depression and anxiety medication – had inconvenienced a lot of people.
O’Riley had pleaded guilty on the eve of his jury trial to charges of armed burglary and arson.
Defence counsel Ruper Glover said O’Riley had delayed pleading guilty because he did not believe his former partner would want to go ahead with the prosecution.
The Crown said he had pleaded guilty after the police had established that his fingerprints were on the bottles used for the arson, and the traces of substance inside were confirmed as accelerant.
Mr Glover said O’Riley had been “understandably upset” and unable to exercise proper self-control because he was not on his usual medication, when he found his ex-partner with another man. They had been apart for some time.
Judge Farish said O’Riley had burst into the home armed with a piece of timber and had struck the man on the side of the body with it, causing no injury. He had also screamed at the pair, but left quickly pursued by the man.
He was “unable to de-escalate his feelings of jealousy and anger” and returned an hour later with beer bottles of petrol and rags in the top. He threw one of these Molotov cocktails through the bedroom window where it set fire to curtains and bedding.
O’Riley went to ground after the attack and it was a while before he was found and arrested.
Judge Farish said the woman victim had no lasting animosity towards him, but there had been a risk to life in the attack with seven flatmates – most of them asleep – in the house. “It is fortunate they had fire extinguishers available.”
She jailed O’Riley for four years six months and recommended that he get psychological counselling or a Medium Intensity Rehabilitation Programme while serving his time, to help with his future and lower his risk of offending.
Category: News
Subscribe
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to receive more just like it.
Connect
Connect with us via: