STATE OF TASMANIA v ASHTON ALAN WOOLLEY 20 DECEMBER 2022
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BLOW CJ
Mr Woolley has pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted arson and a charge of arson. He committed these crimes as part of a very silly plan to deal with some mistakes that he had made in the course of his work as a plumber.
In early 2021 his employer had been engaged as a sub-contractor to complete plumbing works on a new house in Blackmans Bay. The new owner was due to take possession on 29 April. In the course of his work at that site Mr Woolley made four mistakes. He neglected to install waste outlets in the floors of three rooms, and in the upstairs bathroom he neglected to install a spout and a mixer for the bath.
Prompt rectification of those four mistakes would have been simple, but Mr Woolley ignored them, and ignored them for months. By April of 2021 the cost of rectifying his mistakes would have been about $30,000. The problem was that plasterers had undertaken work that prevented easy access to the places where Mr Woolley had neglected to install appropriate fittings. Mr Woolley made a plan to start a fire that would do enough damage to necessitate the removal of the plaster that pre vented access to the four different positions, and then to secretly install the missing fittings. He went to the site in the early hours of 22 April, set fire to some carpet off-cuts and rags in a bucket in a cupboard in the downstairs kitchenette, and left immediately. The fire went out. It caused minimal smoke damage. The attempt to set fire to parts of the building constituted the crime of attempting to commit arson.
Over the following week Mr Woolley had a number of conversations with the owner of the property. He assured him that the work would be finished in time for a final inspection on 26 April. That inspection did not occur. In the early hours of 28 April Mr Woolley went back to the house, set fire to some items in the same cupboard, and went home. That fire caused damage to joinery and cupboards in the kitchenette area and extensive smoke damage throughout the house. Starting that fire therefore amounted to the crime of arson. The builder attended the house at about 7am on that day, and opened the cupboard, whereupon items re-ignited. The cost of repairing the damage caused by the second fire has been estimated to be a little over $140,000.
Mr Woolley was 31 years old when he committed these crimes and is now 32. He has no significant prior convictions. He is a single man, with an 11 year old daughter whom he looks after on alternate weekends. He left school during year 11 and completed a four-year apprenticeship. He was employed as a qualified plumber from then until he committed these crimes. A police investigation led to him being interviewed on 27 May 2021. He initially denied involvement, but information from his mobile phone showed that he had been in Blackmans Bay when both fires were lit. He made full admissions after being confronted with that information. He was charged and his employer sacked him.
Word of what Mr Woolley had done spread throughout the plumbers and builders of Hobart. He found it very difficult to find another position, but another employer eventually decided to give him a chance. He now has secure employment again, but is earning $200 per week less than he was receiving in his previous position.
What he did was out of character. He does not have any drinking, drug or gambling problems. He is in a stable relationship with a new partner. He greatly regrets what he did. He pleaded guilty at a relatively early stage, so that it was not necessary for the Crown to prepare this case for trial.
Because Mr Woolley has no significant prior convictions and seems unlikely to re-offend, I do not think it would be appropriate for me to send him to prison today. Because of the amount of damage that the fire caused, I think the most appropriate course is for me to impose a wholly suspended sentence of imprisonment and to require him to perform some community service. I will also be making compensation orders. Because Mr Woolley is in steady employment, he will have the capacity to pay compensation, and will probably be doing so for a very long time. That is something that counts in his favour in relation to sentencing.
Ashton Alan Woolley, I convict you and sentence you to 9 months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended on condition that you commit no offence punishable by imprisonment for a period of 12 months. I make a community correction order, to operate for 12 months from today, with a special condition that during that period you must satisfactorily perform and complete 140 hours of community service as directed by a probation officer or a supervisor. I make two compensation orders, requiring you to pay compensation to D S Building Pty Ltd and Steadfast Taswide Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd. I adjourn the assessment of compensation pursuant to each of those orders sine die.