Man sentenced to one year after setting co-worker on fire

EDMONTON A man who sprayed a co-worker with brake fluid, then lit a rag that caused the victim to catch fire was handed a one-year sentence to be served in the community Tuesday.

Tylor Douglas Wright earlier pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm for actions that led to his colleague at an Edmonton car dealership sustaining burns to about 35 per cent of his body.

In his judgment, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Stephen Hillier said it’s not the “foolishness of the actions, but the severe consequences” of the Dec. 10, 2013, offence that merited the sentence.

When Wright was given the opportunity to address the court, he said he regrets what happened.

Court heard Wright and another man were both employees at a southside car dealership when Wright sprayed brake fluid on the other man and then lit a rag on fire. The flames quickly spread to the victim, who attempted to douse himself with windshield fluid. Other employees rushed to help, getting the burning man outside and into the snow.

The victim, court heard, now lives in Australia and though his skin has regrown, it is a different pigmentation than the rest of his body and he is unable to spend extended periods of time in the sun.

Calling the crime a “deliberate but absolutely senseless act,” Hillier accepted a joint submission on sentencing, ordering Wright to serve six months under house arrest, and the remainder of his sentence subject to a curfew.