Clinton Bannister jailed for torching ex-girlfriend’s unit after break-up

A drunk and high “serious repeat offender” who sent 65 “very scary” texts to his ex has been sentenced for carrying out his violent threats.

A drunk, high and “extremely violent” man sent his ex-girlfriend a barrage of threatening text messages then torched her home after they broke up, a court has heard.

Clinton Bradley Bannister, 39, stole the woman’s keys during an argument then returned the next morning to set fire to a washing basket in the main bedroom of her unit, causing $170,000 damage in September 2021.

In sentencing Bannister for the offence of arson, Judge Liesl Kudelka said he sent his former partner 65 “threatening and very scary” text messages after an argument at her inner southern suburbs home.

“You said you were going to burn the house to the ground and you had three cans of Zippo lighter fluid. You said you were an extremely violent person,” she said.

She said police had advised the woman to stay elsewhere “for her own safety” and Bannister, a father of two, was captured on CCTV leaving the home after starting the blaze.

Clinton Bradley Bannister. Picture: SA Police

“After your argument with the victim the night before, you went to the bottle shop, bought two bottles of spirits and recall drinking one of them but have no memory of anything after that,” Judge Kudelka said.

“You say you have little memory because of drugs, alcohol and a lack of sleep.”

She said Bannister’s ex-partner shared her home with her mother – who had been diagnosed with stage four cancer the day before the fire.

The ex-partner also lost precious personal belongings in the blaze including her children’s baby books and her mother’s family photos.

Judge Kudelka said Bannister grew up in a home where drug use was normalised and began using illicit substances as a teen. He was diagnosed with ADHD as a child and later, severe chronic insomnia.

Judge Kudelka said Bannister spent several days in a padded cell after his arrest because he was “so high on drugs”.

“The fact that you were drunk and high on drugs at the time you committed this offence is no excuse. You, like everyone else, must answer to what you did when intoxicated,” she said.

“People who perpetrate acts of domestic violence need to understand that it is not tolerated by the community and the courts will impost significant sentences.”

After a discount for his guilty plea to a charge of arson and adding six weeks for breaching a suspended sentence bond, Judge Kudelka jailed Bannister for four years, 10 months and 13 days.

She said he was considered a serious repeat offender, meaning his non-parole period must be 80 per cent of his head sentence, and set a non-parole period of three years, nine months and 19 days.