A recidivist arsonist who had fallen out with a Hallam couple and set fire to their home has been jailed for up to eight years.
Father-of-four Jagath Mallikarachichi, 52, formerly of Clyde North, was sentenced at the Victorian County Court on 2 October after pleading guilty to arson.
A hoodie-clad and heavily drunk Mallikarachichi broke into his sister-in-law and husband’s rental house, pouring petrol in two bedrooms and setting it alight about 9.10am on 15 April 2024.
He destroyed most of their possessions, valued at $174,516, including irreplaceable items such as a wedding dress, valuable jewellery and cricket trophies.
About $90,000 of cricket gear, imported from India in order to sell, perished in the blaze.
The uninsured couple’s finances and plans to buy a house were scuttled.
The brother-in-law stated to the court that he didn’t understand why someone would want to take everything away from them.
The property’s landlord submitted it would cost nearly $42,000 to demolish the dwelling and another $407,000 to rebuild.
In sentencing, judge Gabriele Cannon commended a passer-by who bravely burst into the flaming house, yelled out to anyone who might have been trapped inside and called triple-0.
At the time of the arson, the home was vacant due to the couple holidaying in Sri Lanka – as Mallikarachichi well knew.
He had argued with them after they declined his request to take certain items to Sri Lanka on his behalf.
He was said to be jealous of the husband’s cricketing achievements. A violent outburst had forced his sister-in-law to move out of the family home and he was snubbed from the couple’s wedding invitations.
When arrested, Mallikarachichi was living in a motel.
He lied to police that he was possibly at a doctor’s appointment or restaurant during the fire.
His guilty plea came at a late stage, after Judge Cannon ruled his previous arsons were admissible evidence in front of a yet-to-be empaneled jury.
Mallikarachichi had been convicted for starting a diesel fire outside his ex-partner’s bedroom window, causing it to explode in 2009.
After drinking heavily, he set fire to a Lilydale shopping centre in 2014 after losing his job as a cleaner.
Breaching intervention orders, thefts, unlawful assault and handling stolen goods were among his other past offending.
Judge Cannon said Mallikarachichi’s arsons were part of a pattern of “extremely concerning behaviour”.
She rated his rehabilitation prospects as “guarded”, with drinking a continual problem.
He’d since shown little remorse for his victims, she said.
Judge Cannon dismissed a defence submission that his latest arson was an “impulsive” act fuelled by drunkenness and his ADHD.
He had pre-meditated committing a criminal offence, she stated.
As shown by parking his car some distance away from the couple’s home and covering his face with a hoodie before breaking in. It was unclear whether he’d brought the petrol used in the fire.
His behaviour was disinhibited due to his intoxication, but he was aware of his tendency to commit such offences when drunk, Judge Cannon said.
In future, his intoxication could be considered an aggravating factor if it was part of any further offending.
Mallikarachichi was jailed for eight years, with a five-year-and-three-month non-parole period.
His term includes 484 days of pre-sentence detention.
