Not guilty verdict in fireworks trial
A jury have found a Hamilton woman not guilty of a charge of arson, in the form of allegedly daring another to throw a lit firework through the window of a teachers’ staffroom of a Hamilton High School.
The 21-year-old stood trial in the Hamilton District Court on a charge of destroying property by fire, namely the staff room of Sacred Heart Girl’s College, on the night of November 10, 2017.
The woman, who was defended by Paul Wicks QC, was granted full and permanent name and details suppression by Judge Philip Connell following her acquittal. This was because ‘‘the taint of the charge of arson’’ on her future career prospects outweighed the need for publication.
The jury had retired to deliberate at 3.30pm on Monday, and returned with a majority 11-1 verdict shortly before 3pm on Tuesday – a decision that was met with cries of joy from the defendant’s family seated in the public gallery.
The woman’s co-defendant, Shari De Wys, 21, has already pleaded guilty and been sentenced on a charge of arson.
It was De Wys who threw the lit firework through the second storey window of the teachers’ lounge – an act filmed and broadcast by the defendant using the Snapchat app – where it landed on a sofa and ignited it.
The defendant in this trial was accused of daring or encouraging De Wys to throw the firework – and as such, the Crown contended, was guilty as a party to the criminal offence of arson.
De Wys, the then-19-year-old former Sacred Heart student who threw the firework, was sentenced on February 14 to six months of community detention and 12 months of intensive supervision.
She was also ordered by Judge Robert Spear to undertake 300 hours of community work.