KEY POINTS:
A 77-year-old woman who was in bed connected to her oxygen supply "ran like a 20-year-old" from her burning home during an arson attack, a court was told yesterday.
Tristan Sullivan, 22, of Porirua, appeared in the Wellington District Court for sentencing on one charge of arson.
He had pleaded guilty but then a disputed facts hearing was held as he had said he was not the principal offender.
Judge Susan Thomas ruled that Sullivan was the principal offender and sentenced him to three years and nine months' jail.
She said that when Shirley Nancarrow, now 78, was in bed in her unit in Redwood Retirement Village, Tawa, on September 25 last year at 11.30pm, Sullivan lit a rag in a bottle full of gasoline and threw it through her kitchen window before running from the scene.
The victim heard an explosion and saw her house filled with smoke. She saw flames engulf the edge of her kitchen and lounge.
"She may be 78 but she ran like a 20-year-old," Judge Thomas said.
Mrs Nancarrow's unit was gutted and although it was insured she had lost irreplaceable items such as photos.
Mrs Nancarrow said in a victim impact statement that she was angered and disgusted by the attack and believed she should be able to feel safe in her own home.
Sullivan was approached by police after they found a lighter with his fingerprints on it at a neighbour's property.
Pre-sentencing reports showed he had suffered extreme abuse as a child, by family members and in institutions. He had a history of anti-social behaviour and was considered to be at high risk of reoffending.
Since 2002 Sullivan has amassed 22 convictions, mostly for alcohol-related offending.
After the sentencing, Mrs Nancarrow said she and her family had been through an awful ordeal.
- NZPA
