26-05-2025
EXCLUSIVE Corbie Walpole describes for the first time in her own words the moment she doused schoolfriend Jake Loader in 5 litres of petrol and set him alight
A woman who doused her childhood friend in petrol and set him on fire has revealed she could not go into a service station, look at a jerry can or fill her lawn mower with fuel after the senseless attack.
Corbie Walpole has also described the moment she ignited Jake Loader as he sat in her backyard soaked in 5 litres of petrol and he 'suddenly went "woosh"'.
Walpole was jailed for four and a half years last Thursday after pleading guilty to one count of burn, maim, disfigure or disable a person by use of a corrosive fluid.
The attack occurred at Walpole's house in Howlong, near Albury on the NSW-Victoria border, when she was hosting a group of friends including Loader on January 7 last year.
Walpole said she snapped when Loader, who she had known since high school and now lives on his parents' Queensland cattle station, told her she should be in the kitchen baking scones rather than out drinking with boys.
Loader was left permanently disfigured, having suffered third-degree burns to more than half his body and spending 74 days in the burns unit of Melbourne 's Alfred Hospital.
In a 10-page affidavit, 25-year-old Walpole prepared in April ahead of her sentencing in the NSW District Court, she set out to explain what she had done to Loader in her own words.
Walpole disclosed she had considered taking her own life after setting 22-year-old Loader on fire and felt 'physically ill' when she saw his shocking injuries in photographs.
She also conceded her drug and alcohol use had spiralled out of control as she dealt with the breakdown of a long-term relationship.
Walpole met Riley Stone in 2019 and they bought a house in November 2022 but from early 2023 things between them became strained.
'We were regularly arguing, usually about Riley being lazy or immature and me having to organise and arrange everything in our lives and the relationship,' she said.
'It got the to the point a few months before the offence where I tried to avoid Riley as much as possible. I didn't want to go home and would try and stay out and socialise to avoid being home and being around him.'
Throughout 2023, Walpole was consuming 15 to 20 standard drinks, half a gram of cocaine and one or two ecstasy pills, each weekend. She sometimes took speed and ketamine as well.
'Every now and then I would black out after drinking and taking drugs,' she said in her affidavit. 'Otherwise I thought I was in control. Looking back, I was clearly not in control.
'Alcohol and drugs were my escape and I was needing more and more of them to distract myself from feeling down and low.
'I remember feeling anxious a fair bit before the offence. However I did not really think about my mental health or have any insight or understanding of it.
'I always thought that whatever emotional issues I felt were ones I should just be able to deal with by myself.'
On the night she set Loader on fire Walpole had taken about a third of a gram of cocaine and downed cider, homemade punch, whisky, rum and vodka - up to 35 standard drinks.
Walpole, Loader and their friends had gone to the local golf club, a house party and a 21st birthday celebration during the evening. By the time the remaining revellers made their way back to Walpole's home at Howlong at was 4am.
'Jake had been antagonising me during the night,' Walpole said. 'He was telling me I needed to get back to the kitchen and that I was a girl. I gave it to him back, as I thought he was being a misogynist.
'He was really pushing my buttons.'
About 5am, Walpole and Loader were sitting around an outdoor table drinking cans of Hard Solo with two male friends.
'Jake kept telling me I should be in the kitchen and making scones for them,' Walpole said. 'He said I shouldn't be out drinking with boys. He told me I was stupid.
'At one point I went to the garage and got the jerry can that was in there. I brought it out and poured petrol onto Jake's head.
'I then got a lighter and held it out and told Jake that, "I'll do it, I'll do it". Jake then looked at me and smiled and said, "Go on, do it".'
Walpole recalled what she did next: 'I then lit the lighter.'
'Jake then suddenly went "woosh" and lit up in flames,' she said. 'He was on fire all over. He started running around the yard screaming and trying to get his shirt off.
'I remember him going to the pool. I could not believe what I had done. I freaked out. I started crying and shaking and saying, "What the f*** have I done? What the f*** have I done?"
'He just wouldn't stop. He was telling me to do it.'
Walpole remembered a female friend hugging her. She ran out the front door and down to the Murray River. After that, much of what happened was a blur.
'I was in shock after the offence,' she said. 'I remember waking up at some point after being asleep and thinking it was a nightmare.
'I could not believe what I had done or that it was real. I was so worried about Jake and what had happened to him.'
Loader, who spent eight days in an induced coma, had suffered third-degree burns to 55 per cent of his body and second-degree burns to a further 6 per cent.
'I could not leave the house after what I did to Jake,' Walpole said. 'I kept thinking to myself, "What the f*** have I done?"
'I thought for a few days that I had to kill myself because of what I had done... I stopped thinking about suicide after a few days. I realised I was thinking about myself and not about Jake.
'I lost 6kg in the first week after I committed the offence. I could not eat. I would see Jake burning every time I closed my eyes. I also saw him in my dreams.
'I would have flashbacks of Jake burning when I saw parts of the house.'
The electrician returned to work three days a week in late February and after a month was back fulltime.
'After the offence for about one month I was not able to go to a service station,' she said in her affidavit.
'It was only when I returned to work and had to fill up the work van that I started attending service stations again.
'Since the offence I cannot look at a jerry can and I cannot fill up the lawn mower. I have to get dad to do this.'
Before her sentencing Walpole re-read a statement of facts about her attack on Loader and looked at photographs of the injuries she inflicted upon his arms, legs, chest and face.
'Looking at the photos of Jake makes me feel physically ill that I caused those shocking injuries to him,' she said.
'I was devastated to see those photos and felt so appalled and disgusted at myself for what I did. I am deeply ashamed of what I did to Jake.'
Of her alcohol and drug abuse, Walpole vowed in her affidavit: 'I have not touched them since and intend never to do so again.'
Walpole said she deserved 'significant punishment' for her 'dangerous, reckless and stupid' conduct and knew that was exactly what she faced.
'I cannot imagine the pain and suffering Jake has experienced,' she said.
'I cannot imagine what his family, his girlfriend Annabelle (who was my good friend before I committed the offence) and everyone else who cares about him have been trough because of my conduct.
'I am responsible for that suffering. I do not make excuses for what I did because there aren't any.
'I understand I can never atone for what I did to Jake. My only hope is that Jake is OK.'
Walpole will be eligible for parole in November 2029.
