Latest news with #ColinBainbridge
ABC News
10 hours ago
- ABC News
Former Australian Army reservist jailed for lighting neighbour on fire
A former Australian Army reservist has been sentenced to 35 years behind bars for killing his neighbour by setting him on fire. Stuart Lee was sentenced in the Supreme Court on Thursday after pleading guilty earlier this year to one count of murder. In March 2023, the 65-year-old threw petrol on his neighbour, 66-year-old Colin Bainbridge, and lit him on fire after a land-clearing dispute between the two men at Wheatsheaf, a rural area about 100 kilometres north-west of Melbourne. Mr Bainbridge suffered burns to 70 per cent of his body and later died in hospital. Supreme Court Justice Andrew Tinney told the court Lee's shocking and heartless crimes on a completely innocent and unsuspecting victim were beyond human contemplation. Despite a guilty plea, Justice Tinney said Lee had shown no remorse. He also dismissed evidence that Lee was psychotic at the time of offending, telling the court Lee was a sad, angry, embittered person whose sole intention was to maim Mr Bainbridge and teach him a lesson he would never forget. The court heard Lee had a history of delusional and paranoid ideas about his neighbours and in a separate incident in 2021, threatened to pour petrol over another neighbour. Lee was convicted in the Ballarat Magistrates Court of one charge of making a threat to kill in relation to that offence. The court heard that in the lead-up to Mr Bainbridge's murder, Lee called police five times, telling an officer if they did not come, he would murder his neighbours. Lee then doused Mr Bainbridge in petrol, lit him on fire, returned home, and called the police again to report he'd had an altercation with his neighbour. The court heard Lee told police he lit Mr Bainbridge on fire in an act of self-defence. Justice Tinney ruled Lee had fabricated the narrative that Mr Bainbridge had threatened him with a chainsaw on multiple occasions. "I do not accept that you were ever in fear," Justice Tinney told the court. "Your indignant anger overcame your clear understanding of the wrongfulness of your actions and you committed murder," Justice Tinney said. "Your heartless and cruel actions have damaged the family grievously and permanently." Lee has already served 835 days of his sentence and will be eligible for parole in 27 years.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Heartless' killer jailed for 35 years for fire attack
A ruthless killer has been jailed for 35 years after he set fire to an innocent man who was felling trees at a neighbouring property. Victorian Supreme Court Justice Andrew Tinney described Stuart Lee's crimes as "shocking and heartless" as he handed down sentence on Thursday. "The pain and anguish you caused... is incalculable," the judge said. Lee pleaded guilty to murdering Colin Bainbridge at a Wheatsheaf property in regional Victoria on March 14, 2023. Mr Bainbridge had been felling trees in his friend's backyard when, without any instigation, Lee yelled at him to "f*** off". Mr Bainbridge said the same thing in response and Lee rushed off to call the police. After five calls went unanswered, he finally told an officer he would go and murder his neighbours if they did not come. The 65-year-old then went into his shed, poured petrol from a jerry can into a blue bucket and grabbed a lighter from inside the house. Lee went into the backyard, climbed a fence and poured the petrol over Mr Bainbridge before setting him on fire. Mr Bainbridge's son Joshua, who was working nearby, rushed over and helped put out the flames with a hose. He was airlifted to The Alfred hospital with burns to 81 per cent of his body and died later that evening. In sentencing Lee on Thursday, Justice Tinney accepted the 65-year-old had a personality disorder which made him inexplicably suspicious of his neighbours. But he rejected arguments from defence that Lee was genuinely frightened of Mr Bainbridge, instead finding he acted only in anger. "Your indignant anger overcame your clear understanding of the wrongfulness of your actions and you committed murder," Justice Tinney said. Lee will be eligible for parole after 27 years.
