Arson attack motivated by revenge
Two women who deliberately torched a $12,000 car were motivated by a desire to seek revenge for their spurned friend, a court heard.
In September last year, Nicola Newton and Karen Verna La Rue were at their associate’s house in Waiwhakaiho, New Plymouth.
Their friend had recently split with her boyfriend and discovered he had a new partner.
About 2.35am on September 3 and under the cover of darkness, Newton and La Rue travelled the 28 kilometres to Lower Pitone Rd, Oakura, where their friend’s ex and his new girlfriend lived.
Parked outside the house were two cars, one which belonged to the man’s love interest.
The summary of facts said at the time the duo arrived, the couple, and other people including children, were all asleep inside.
The victim’s $12,000 Toyota car was parked in the driveway at the property behind a Mitsubishi vehicle. Both cars were only about five metres away from the house.
La Rue and Newton used an accelerant to ignite a fire on top of the front wheel of the victim’s car and then took off, returning to their friend’s house in New Plymouth.
About 4.35am, one of the resident inside the house was woken up by ‘‘popping’’ sounds and looked outside to find the car on fire and flames coming out of the bonnet.
After waking up the other people in the house, the man went outside and tried to put the fire out with an extinguisher without success.
The Toyota car, which was not insured, was extensively damaged by the blaze. The second vehicle, which was worth $2000, suffered minor damage to its rear bumper.
On Thursday, La Rue and Newton – who previously pleaded guilty to a representative charge of arson – were sentenced to nine months’ home detention.
La Rue, 49, was also sentenced on two fraud charges.
Judge Garry Barkle told the New Plymouth District Court the victim had suffered ‘‘great inconvenience’’ as a result of the arson.
‘‘She has effectively lost the vehicle and had some associated financial loss,’’ he said.
The judge said the aggravating factors involved in the offending included the risk the fire posed to the occupants of the house and the firefighters who attended the callout, the extent of the damage caused and the amount of planning the pair put into the crime.
Judge Barkle said Newton, 37, had a less favourable pre-sentence report than La Rue and she was warned if she did not comply with the sentence, jail was the only other option available to the court.
Now pregnant, Newton has an opportunity to go into drug rehabilitation with the Salvation Army Bridge programme later this year.
Along with home detention, the two women were ordered to complete 175 hours of community work and pay $7000 in reparation.
La Rue was also given a concurrent community work sentence for the fraud charges and ordered to pay $963.25.