STATE OF TASMANIA v SAMUEL KEVIN McGLONE 19 DECEMBER 2025
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE JAGO J
Samuel McGlone, you have pleaded guilty to one count of create common nuisance contrary to s 141(1) of the Criminal Code. On 10 July 2024 at your residence at Mengha Road in Forest, you committed a common nuisance by igniting a gas bottle, in very close proximity to other persons – namely police officers and other emergency personnel. In so doing, you endangered the lives of the public. The residence was on a farm owned by Miriam and Neville House. You were employed by Mr and Mrs House. You had been working on the farm, and living in the residence, since 2017.
The background to this matter is that on 21 December 2023, you had been served with an interim family violence order to protect your partner and the two children of the relationship. That order was still in force on 10 July 2024 when this incident occurred. The order required you to wear an electronic monitoring device. You had been charged with family violence offences, and you were due to appear in the Burnie Supreme Court in July 2024. In the days leading up to 10 July 2024, you had messaged your wife and, in essence, told her that you intended to take your life prior to the court date. You had also indicated to her in the days leading up to the incident that you had been looking for drugs. Your communications were observed to be somewhat bizarre with you making claims about being sexually assaulted in the streets of Smithton, keys being stolen and police drones flying around your head.
At 6.35am on 10 July, the monitoring and compliance unit received a warning that your electronic monitoring device had been removed. The monitoring and compliance unit contacted you and you advised that something had fallen onto your leg, damaging the device. This information was communicated to local police and at approximately 7.30am, Senior Constable Parker endeavoured to contact you to arrange to attend your residence to replace the device. You did not answer any of her calls, so Senior Constable Parker made arrangements to attend your address in person with other officers from the mobile crime unit.
At approximately 10am three police officers attended your address at Forest. Initially, they struggled to raise you, but eventually you communicated with them and told them that you had cut off your electronic monitoring device, you were suicidal and you wanted water. You also told them you were unable to leave the house as you had locked yourself in there by drilling the doors and windows shut. You described to officers that you had drilled the heads off the screws so they could no longer be undone. You said you had placed 150kg weights behind the doors to prevent access. You also told police that you had been “at it for nine months trying to stop the psychopaths getting me”. At another point, you told police that you had poisoned yourself and that you had injected air and mushrooms into your body and you thought you were dying. At another point, you claimed to have been raped.
Police considered that what you were saying was bizarre, and somewhat nonsensical. Your thought patterns came across as scattered and your speech was rambling. Police were understandably concerned. As time went on, your behaviour appeared to be becoming more erratic. Attempts were made to get water to you through a hole in the wall, but they were unsuccessful.
A decision was made to notify the Sergeant of police at Smithton. She, together with a police negotiator, attended the scene. When they arrived, you could be heard moving around the residence and sounds consistent with you hammering items and using power tools were heard. Police tried to speak with you and encouraged you to come out. At one point, you threatened to set the house on fire and told police they would get hurt if they entered. You told police that you had weapons. One of the officers heard what sounded like a firearm being cocked and heard you say, “if you want to fuck with me I will take you all out, we can all go together”. I note no firearms were ultimately located, but of course, police were not to know that at the time you uttered those words. It is also clear from the communications that you did engage in with police, that you appreciated that it was the police who were present at your residence.
Police negotiations continued for some time. During those negotiations, police observed you to throw liquid around the front door of the residence and later detected a chemical smell coming from the same area. You said to police “There is a lot of combustible goods in here … it is a fucking trap when you cunts come in here so we’all go together. I have been fucking telling you the whole time.” At another point police heard what sounded like a cigarette lighter flicking and heard you say, “oh look, a fucking fire”. When police asked you what you were doing, you said “trying to keep safe from you’s. I want to fucking die. I don’t want hurt you too”.
Concerned that you would set the residence on fire and given that you were not responding to the efforts of the police negotiators, members of the police emergency management and special response team, and the Tasmania Fire Service, were called. At 12.35pm members of the police emergency management and special response team forced entry to the rear of the residence. It was dark inside. All the doors, including the internal doors and windows in the residence, had been barricaded which made it difficult for police to make their way to the front of the residence, where you were. As they endeavoured to do so, the police negotiator heard you say, “you fucking dog cunts … come on you fucking scum bags”. I am satisfied that you appreciated at this point that it was police who had entered your residence.
Police observed that you had coated the internal walls of the house with a synthetic oil and had barricaded the front and back doors with weights. Combustible material had been placed at the base of the barricaded front door and an amount of combustible material had been added to that area. Further combustible material was located throughout the house, including in the ceiling and roof cavity. The house was in disarray. Various household goods had been used throughout the residence to barricade the windows and doors. Several flammable aerosol cans which had been pierced, had also been placed around the residence and in the roof.
Members of the emergency management and special response team eventually made their way towards you. As they approached you, they heard the sound of rushing gas from behind a barricade, which was inhibiting entry to the room where you were positioned. As they breached that barricade and were about to force entry to the room, you ignited an 8.5kg barbeque style gas bottle. The nozzle of the gas bottle was pointed towards police. It shot a fireball towards the police from a distance of approximately 1.5 metres. Each of the officers feared for their lives, as the highly flammable and barricaded state of the house meant they were in a particularly vulnerable and dangerous situation. The officers were forced to retreat. Tasmania Fire Service put water on the house as smoke was billowing out. Efforts were made to extinguish the fire and to locate you. Those efforts were significantly hampered by the amount of smoke and heat. Your dog, which had been locked in a room, was located and removed from the residence.
Once Tasmania Fire Service had brought the fire under control, police were able to re-enter. They located you under the floorboards. It seemed that you had cut a hole in the floorboards with a circular saw in order to gain access to the under floor space. It is not clear when you climbed under the floor. Further floorboards had to be removed to extract you. Police found a number of knives within the residence and also a syringe with traces of methylamphetamine. When you were extracted, you were wearing motorcycle armour underneath your clothes.
Once police had you in their custody, you became apologetic and asked if anyone had been hurt. You were taken to the Northwest Regional Hospital for treatment. You were emotional before becoming agitated. You had burns to your right arm, lower right leg, back, scalp and lips. You were noted as being difficult to manage whilst at the hospital. A mental health assessment was conducted, but no medical reason was identified to detain you. You were discharged from hospital and taken to the Burnie Police Station where you were charged with a number of crimes. You have been detained in custody since then.
A subsequent fire investigation report concluded that there had been intense fire activity in the front bedroom. The area of origin was in and around the gas cylinder. Once ignited, the gas had filled the bedroom and seeped into the hallway, creating fire affects and damage throughout. The investigation report indicated that the flame burning from the gas bottle was anywhere up to 1000°C. The fire was rapid and had an intense heat release rate. The fire investigation report concluded that the fire was deliberately lit.
You were interviewed on 11 July 2024. You told police that you had barricaded the house 12 hours prior to police arrival. You said that you had drilled things shut over time, but on 10 July had placed additional weights in front of the door and in the hallway, and had barricaded yourself into a room, intending to commit suicide. You told police that you had injected 10 units of air into your body and had also injected yourself with poisonous mushrooms. You said you decided to cut the electronic monitoring device as you were intending to die. You told police that you had passed out at one point but subsequently “came back”.
You said that you could not explain your actions and that your mind was “all over the shop”. You made a number of bizarre representations to police, including suggesting that you had been sexually assaulted. You told police that at times you had slept in the main street of Smithton to feel safe. You said that you believed that there was someone outside of the house and you were begging them to leave. You told police that you did not know if you were “sane or not”.
You also said you had decided that if police did not leave you alone, you would set fire to the house and die in that manner. You said “when I lit that gas bottle, I had last minute instant regret, that I don’t want to fucking hurt anyone, so I tipped it up to point towards the roof instead. It sort of rolled back towards me and just burnt me instead. And I freaked out and I went to go push the wardrobe aside and jump down that hole and I got stuck halfway down”.
You also told police that you had been unable to speak to your children for 12 months and it had broken you. You said you had been using drugs for quite sometime, that you had been trying to get away from them but could not. You admitted that you had last used drugs on the Monday evening.
You are 34 years of age. Your upbringing was turbulent and difficult. Your mother left the family unit when you were aged about three. Thereafter, you had minimal contact with her. You were raised predominately by your father. He was a violent man. He was alcohol dependent and prone to many violent outbursts. You were offered little by way of parental support. An uncle sexually abused you when you were about eight or nine. Your schooling was affected by your upbringing. You were often truant and started using alcohol and drugs in your early teenage years. By the time you were 15, you had moved out of home. To your credit, you obtained work from about that age and have held regular employment since. You have qualifications as a welder/fabricator, and have also spent considerable time working in the farming industry.
You met your ex-partner when you were about 19. You had your first child together when you both were in your early 20’s and had your second child approximately four years later. The relationship between you and your ex-partner was a tumultuous one and characterised by both of you being heavy and regular users of illicit substances. Following the birth of your second child, you made a concerted effort to abstain from the use of illicit substances and for a period of approximately ten years leading up to 2022, you were successful in that endeavour.
However, you again began to use illicit substances again after difficulties arose in the relationship. I am told there were many arguments and some incidents of violence. That led to family violence orders were put in place. Access to your children was restricted and you were struggling to cope. You returned to the use of illicit substances and very quickly, your use of those substances escalated to a high level. By December 2023, your use was quite chronic.
Between December 2023 and July 2024, when this incident occurred, your mental state had also began to deteriorate. You developed a perception that others were trying to access your property. The intensity of such perceptions led to you doing things like replacing all the locks on the property and installing deadbolts. You began to believe that your employers may be involved in some sort of conspiracy against you. You believed that your employers and members of their family were interfering with items in your home. Because you believed your house was being broken into, and that you may be subject to surveillance, you began to feel unsafe in your own home and started to sleep away at various places, including in the streets of Smithton.
In the months leading up to July 2024, you were using amphetamines intravenously on a daily basis. By 9 July 2024, your level of paranoia had increased markedly, and you began to make plans to barricade yourself into your residence. You were experiencing increasing suicidal ideation. You painted oil on the internal walls of the house thinking it would allow the property to burn more easily if you decided to kill yourself in that manner.
It seems by the early hours of 10 July, you had decided to take your life. Apparently, you wished to die without the electronic monitoring device as you saw that as being linked to the difficulties you had experienced in being unable to see your children and partner. You deny that you broke the device for the purpose of attracting the attention of police. Even accepting that was the case, given the length of time for which you had been wearing the device and your familiarity with its operation, you must have appreciated that destroying it would led to a notification to the authorities.
You claim you lit the gas cylinder as part of your plan to kill yourself, rather than to attack anyone who had entered into your property. You also claim that you expected the gas bottle to explode rather than producing a flame as it did. When you appreciated the flame from the gas bottle was heading towards the direction of the police who had entered the house, you say you flicked it upwards and pointed it towards the roof to avoid the flame being directed towards others. In this process, your arm was seriously burnt.
I have some reservations about some of your claims. Firstly, they suggest a calm and rational thought process which seems at odds with other matters you raise. Secondly, the wearing of motorcycle under armour and cutting a hole in the floorboards to hide within, seems inconsistent with your stated intention to kill yourself. Thirdly, the gas bottle nozzle was pointed directly towards police and not you. Of course, given the crime to which you have pleaded guilty, you are not to be sentenced for possessing any intent to cause harm to any of the police officers, but the points I raise highlight the extreme danger that was associated with your act. Once you ignited the gas bottle, you really had no control over what would occur. The consequences of your actions could have been devastating. Police officers, and other personnel, both inside and outside of the house, could very easily have been seriously injured or worse. The property could easily have been destroyed entirely.
I have received a report from Dr Michael Jordan, Forensic Psychiatrist, relevant to your mental state at the time this incident occurred. Dr Jordan opines that you were suffering from an intense and extended drug induced psychosis at the time of the incident. He notes that in the weeks and days, potentially months, leading up to the incident, you had been using methyl amphetamine and other substances heavily. He notes that in the days leading up to the offending, you had “lost all insight into his degree of paranoid ideation and it is unlikely that he was aware, at least in those later stages of the psychotic episode, that his continuing use of various substances was in fact only worsening his condition”. He notes your behaviour occurred at a time when you had a “very compromised sense of judgment”. Dr Jordan notes there is no evidence that you were suffering from a mental disease at the relevant time.
Self-induced intoxication, whether it be by way of alcohol or illicit substances, does not generally mitigate criminal offending. You had been back using drugs for several years. Whilst you may not have appreciated the extent to which your drug use was elevating your psychosis, you must have appreciated that generally speaking, your drug use was having a deleterious impact upon you, and for several years, you nevertheless chose to continue to use the illicit substances without endeavouring to seek assistance to address your obvious addiction. Arguably, the chronic state of your psychosis is an aggravating feature of your offending. The bizarre behaviour you were displaying must have enhanced the uncertainty the police officers felt in dealing with the situation and elevated the potential for disaster. As Dr Jordan noted, you had a very compromised sense of judgement. You could have done anything. So, whilst your drug induced psychosis may go some way to explaining your conduct, it is by no means a justifiable excuse for what you did.
The excessive use of illicit substances is linked to the commission of much crime, and whilst the Court can appreciate the complexities associated with drug addiction, addiction per se does not excuse or diminish the seriousness of the criminal conduct. That said, I accept your drug induced psychosis provides context to understand how the situation developed and provides a background against which the Court should evaluate your mindset and your actions.
I accept that by 10 July 2024, you were in a very confused, emotional and desperate state. Part of your thought process was a desire to die, and to effect that, you had become fixated on preventing anyone from interfering with that. Hence, you barricaded yourself in the house and were determined to prevent the entry of others. I am satisfied that you were aware that it was police who had entered your house, and concerned they may thwart your plans, you exploded the gas cannister. I cannot exclude that causing harm to yourself may have been in the mix of your desires, but on any view, your act was directed at achieving your wants, and you showed no regard whatsoever for the safety of others. As I have noted, what you did was incredibly reckless and dangerous. You had prepared the house in a way that there were numerous ignition points. Gas is obviously a highly volatile substance which, given your background, I have no doubt you appreciated. Once you introduced a flame to it, your ability to control the situation was minimal. Your criminal conduct exposed members of Tasmania Police and members of Tasmania Fire Service, who were at the scene, to a very grave risk of serious injury and potentially death.
It is also to be noted that your behaviour went on for an extended period. During this time, you appreciated that police were present and willing to assist you, and even accepting the extent of your psychosis, the fact is you did not, at any point, desist in your conduct. The situation must have been terribly confronting, distressing and concerning for all members of Tasmania Police and Tasmania Fire Service, who were present.
Since being remanded in custody, you have been treated with anti-psychotic and anti-depressant medication and your situation and mental health is now described as stable. You, I am told, have reflected upon your behaviour and now appreciate how incredibly dangerous it was. You regret the trauma you caused for others who were present. You have endeavoured to better yourself by undertaking whatever courses are available during your incarceration. I note you have completed the EQUIPS foundation programme. You have completed drug and alcohol counselling and also the Respectful Men’s programme whilst in custody. You have also held a number of positions of employment in custody, including as a storeman, a librarian and a kitchen hand. You are described as being well behaved within the prison environment.
Incredibly, you continue to retain the support of the House family. They indicate the cost of repair of the residence was approximately $50,000. They do not seek a compensation order, but rather, they intend to re-employ you upon your ultimate release and you will enter into an arrangement with them whereby money will be deducted from your wage to compensate for the damage that you caused. The House family wish to continue to support you because they recognise that you possess a number of positive qualities. They regard you as a good worker who was confronted with a number of significant personal issues, which culminated in this incident.
It speaks to the character of Mr and Mrs House that they view your behaviour in this way. It is of significant benefit to you that you retain their support and upon your ultimate release from custody, will have a residence to go to and employment to pursue. That provides you with the best chance of successful rehabilitation into the future. I am told through your counsel that you are adamant that you will, upon release, remain abstinent from illicit drugs. You now have a much better insight, I am told, into just how badly your drug use impacted you.
By way of prior convictions, I note you have a number of convictions for driving offences, particularly contrary to the Road Safety (Alcohol and Drugs) Act. You were also convicted in February 2018 for two counts of common assault, one count of emotional abuse or intimidation, and two counts of breach of police family violence order. These offences were committed against your ex-partner. In February 2021, you were again convicted of the offence of emotional abuse or intimidation. In December 2023, you were convicted of breaching an interim family violence order. This related to you not ensuring the electronic monitoring device was in proper working order.
None of the police officers involved have provided an impact statement, however, I was advised that at least one of the officers was required to seek psychiatric treatment after the incident. I have no doubt that all of the officers involved found the situation confronting.
There are very few sentences for crimes of this nature recorded, and no established sentencing range is apparent. In my view, however, given the objective seriousness of your acts, the only appropriate sentence is a substantial period of imprisonment. Because, however, of the work you have done whilst incarcerated, and the support that you will have upon your release, I am persuaded it is appropriate to fix the shortest possible non-parole period.
I make the following orders. Samuel Kevin McGlone, you are convicted of the crime and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, with effect from 10 July 2024. You will not be eligible for parole until you have served one-half of the sentence.