STATE OF TASMANIA v BLAISE CHRISTOPHER BADDELEY 25 SEPTEMBER 2026
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BRETT J
Mr Baddeley, a jury has found you guilty of the crime of unlawfully setting fire to property. You have also pleaded guilty to a related summary offence of possession of what the prosecutor described as a “negligible quantity of methylamphetamine”.
The crime of unlawfully setting fire to property was committed in the early hours of 24 August 2021. Earlier in the night, the complainant had parked his Subaru station wagon outside a house in William Street, Devonport, which is in a residential suburb. The complainant was staying with his partner and children in the house, which was the home of his partner’s family, while they were on holiday from Western Australia. They had been out earlier in the night but were home in bed when you committed the crime. You can be seen on CCTV footage riding a bicycle past the vehicle and then coming back to it. You took a small item containing fuel from the backpack you were carrying, splashed fuel all over the car and then ignited it. The car immediately burst into flames. The fire burnt fiercely, completely destroying the vehicle and its contents. The complainant and other members of his family were awakened when this happened, probably as a result of the noise from the explosion of flame, and saw the vehicle engulfed by fire. The complainant used a fire extinguisher in an attempt to put the fire out but in the end, this was done by the fire service.
None of what can be seen on the CCTV footage was contested at trial. The only issue was the identity of the offender. The jury was satisfied that it was you. CCTV footage also shows you attending a nearby service station on your bicycle a couple of hours before you committed the crime. You can be seen filling the container with fuel. The lapse of time between doing so and committing the crime has not been explained. Further, the prosecution was not able to assert a motive for your conduct. Your selection of this vehicle on a residential street in the early hours of the morning and the deliberate and obviously premeditated nature of the crime causes me to suspect that this was a targeted attack, but there is no other evidence to support this, and I cannot be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that this was so. Accordingly, you will not be sentenced on that basis. However, the crime is, in any event, a particularly serious example of its type. The burning of a parked vehicle on a residential street, even if done randomly and spontaneously, is an act which has the capacity to cause fear and apprehension within the immediate and wider community. Clearly, this was also the case with respect to the complainant and his family. The crime also caused physical danger to the complainant and responding members of the emergency services, and potentially any other person who may have seen the fire and tried to respond.
The value of the vehicle prior to the fire was $40,184. As I have already said, it was completely destroyed by the fire. The complainant has presented an impact statement. He recovered the financial loss from insurance, but understandably the crime and the loss of use of the vehicle caused practical difficulties and considerable stress for his family and himself. There were some personal items with considerable sentimental value in the car, and these were destroyed by the fire. This has caused considerable distress for the complainant and his family.
You are 36 years of age and were 31 when you committed this crime. You have a significant criminal history, which commenced when you were 18 years of age and living in Western Australia. Your criminal history in that State includes a number of dishonesty offences, and one conviction for criminal damage or destruction of property. You relocated to Tasmania in 2016 at the age of 27 and have continued to offend on a consistent basis since then. Use of illegal drugs has been a particular problem for you. There have been periods when you have been abstinent from drug use, particularly during periods of employment in the mining industry in Western Australia, but your use of drugs continued until you went to prison in 2022. A significant aspect of your personal history is that in April 2025, you were sentenced by a judge for the crimes of burglary, aggravated burglary, aggravated armed robbery and stealing. These crimes were committed by you in company with others in January 2022. You were originally charged with murder and unlawfully setting fire to property as well, but a jury acquitted you of these crimes. You were sentenced to imprisonment for a period of six years and six months commencing 24 December 2022 with a non-parole period of four years. You will become eligible for parole in December 2026. You have found prison difficult and suffered a serious assault during your time in custody. Your counsel tells me that upon release, either on parole or at the end of your sentence, your intention is to relocate to Western Australia in order to make a fresh start.
It will be clear from the comments I have already made that I regard the crime for which you are now to be sentenced as having a high degree of objective seriousness. You committed this crime as a mature person and your moral culpability is also significant. You are not entitled to the benefit of a plea of guilty and have shown no remorse or acceptance of responsibility. I will have regard to the principles of totality, but as I remarked to your counsel during the plea in mitigation, I do not consider that totality requires a significant reduction of the appropriate sentence. This offending was completely separate from and at a different time to that relevant to the sentence you are currently serving.
Blaise Baddeley, you are convicted of the crime of unlawfully setting fire to property and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 15 months. That sentence will be served cumulatively upon the sentence you are currently serving. You are not eligible for parole until you have served eight months of that sentence.
I record a conviction but impose no further punishment in respect of the possession offence.
I make a compensation order in favour of NRMA Insurance in the sum of $40,184.