A 20-year-old man who admitted lighting fires in Perth’s northeast has avoided more time behind bars, walking free from court on Friday because mental impairments meant he could not grasp that what he was doing was wrong.
During the 2021-22 summer, Jude Craig Wright lit nine fires – including one that destroyed the home of a Wooroloo grandmother on Boxing Day.
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Wright, 20, has admitted to scrunching up bits of paper, setting them alight and throwing them out the window to start the blazes.
The volunteer firefighter was then part of the team that fought the fires, except in one case where his team couldn’t get there because they were already busy fighting another emergency he ignited.
The court heard Wright lives with an intellectual disability, autism, ADHD and post-traumatic stress disorder, with the judge satisfied his mental impairments affected his decision making.
The convicted arsonist walked out of court on Friday, with his three-year prison sentence suspended for two years – with conditions – because of exceptional circumstances.
His lawyer said the case is so complex, with “so many different mental health issues that need to be considered”, we may never see anything like it again.
During his time behind bars awaiting sentencing, other inmates set him on fire and assaulted him.
He will have to comply with program and supervision requirements to remain a free man.
Wright’s Boxing Day arson offence left one family devastated, with 40 years of memories going up in flames for Marianne Nisich.
Her Wooroloo home was destroyed by the blaze that scorched around 165 hectares of bushland, sheds, vehicles and machinery.
It was a trip to the shops that, by chance, saved the 77-year-old from the flames herself.
More than a year on from the fire, Nisich’s house remains a burnt shell but she’s determined to return.
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