Jilted lover guilty of arson

Photo / Supplied

A jilted lesbian lover's jealousy was behind an arson attack that destroyed a Bay of Islands home, a court has been told.

Kaikohe woman Tania Dickinson, 34, was found guilty of arson after a three-day trial in the Kaikohe District Court on Wednesday.

She was accused of setting fire to her former partner's home at Haruru Falls, near Paihia, in August 2009.

The rental home was badly damaged, leaving its uninsured owner - now working in Canada - out of pocket.

The former partner's name, occupation and other identifying details have been suppressed.

In his summing up, Judge Russell Callander told the jury the Crown's evidence was circumstantial as no one had been seen lighting two fires inside the house.

Prosecutor Alice Hyndman said Dickinson set fire to the house after her former partner took up with another woman.

A neighbour told the court he had seen Dickinson put on latex gloves before entering the house.

He took the car's registration and called the fire brigade and police when he saw smoke 10 minutes later.

Dickinson admitted having visited the house that day, but claimed that had been an hour before the fire, not 10 minutes as the Crown claimed. Two witnesses told the court she was in Kaikohe at the time the fire started.

Defence lawyer Doug Blaikie also said the neighbour could not have seen her put on gloves because his view was impeded by a fence.

Dickinson will be sentenced in Whangarei on December 10.

- APN