Man admits using cologne to set fire
An angry Napier man took a bottle of Calvin Klein cologne and used it to set a house on fire. Levi J. Pauling, 37, appearing via audio-visual link at the Napier District Court yesterday, pleaded guilty to arson and injuring with intent.
The house in the Napier suburb of Te Awa, which had been undergoing renovations, was destroyed and the fire also damaged neighbouring houses.
Pauling had been living at the house with his partner and their children.
Their possessions were destroyed in the fire, and they did not have contents insurance.
The property was owned by Pauling’s partner’s parents.
On February 23 Pauling and his partner had come home after a night out and an argument brewed over another woman.
According to the police summary of facts, Pauling threw his partner to the ground “with significant force”, causing a large gash to the back of her head.
She managed to get up and make
her way to the bedroom to tend to her wound, before Pauling pushed her to the ground.
Pauling’s partner managed to push him off. She went to bed with the wound wrapped in a towel, and went to a medical centre the next morning.
The day after the assault, Pauling told her “he knew he had to leave home to keep her safe because he had wanted to stab her during the altercation”.
He moved to a rental property, but the couple eventually reconciled and Pauling began to stay at the Creagh St house again.
On March 29 the couple were out together, and argued again.
Pauling yelled at his partner for talking to another man for “too long”.
She refused to travel home with Pauling and the pair argued before his partner called the police.
Pauling took a taxi to the Creagh St address where he kicked the family dog so hard that the neighbours heard the yelp.
Pauling poured a bottle of “CK One” on top of bedding and set it alight. He then went into another bedroom, and set alight clothing on a mattress.
He started a third fire on the couch in the lounge, and left.
Minutes later, the house was “fully engulfed”, with flames coming out the windows and walls, completely destroying the house and collapsing the roof.
Residents in the neighbouring house had to use a hose to dampen their own weatherboards so they didn’t catch fire.
Their house was seriously damaged on its west wall. The kitchen and dining area windows and frames were also damaged.
Pauling left a voicemail on his partner’s phone saying: “I’ve gone past the point of return, I guess that’s just how it ended up.”
He later returned to the property and told a group it was his house and he had started the fire. He was arrested at the scene.
Pauling will be sentenced in June.