Dylan Barfoot threw Molotov cocktail at Darwin’s Frogshollow Backpackers

A man bragged to his taxi driver and unwitting getaway driver after lobbing a molotov cocktail at his suspected love rival’s room. READ WHAT HE SAID HERE.

FIERY jealousy and a thirst for revenge drove a blind-drunk man to lob a molotov cocktail into a Darwin backpackers lodge, a court has heard.

Dylan Barfoot, 32, was sentenced in the Supreme Court after pleading guilty to the arson attack on the Frogshollow Backpackers on November 13 last year.

The court heard Barfoot had spent months living out of the Lindsay St backpackers.

While at the hostel he met his then-girlfriend and the pair embraced a heavy drinking and partying culture in the months before their break-up.

The court heart Barfoot spent days unsuccessfully trying to get in contact with his ex after finding out she was seeing another man.

“You left and went on a drinking binge all night,” Justice Sonia Brownhill said.

“In the morning, you were too drunk to go to work, so you went to the pub and drank until you had no money left.”

On November 13, Barfoot jumped into a taxi armed with a bottle of flammable liquid stuffed with a cloth and a servo lighter.

Barfoot told his driver he would be just two seconds, walked into the backpackers lodge and threw the makeshift explosive at the door of room 104, the fireball quickly setting it alight.

As the flames started to lick the door, Barfoot was chased out by the occupant of the room, who was in a common area at the time.

Barfoot was tackled to the ground, but managed to flee to the taxi.

“Oi, should I tell you what I just did? I just threw a molotov cocktail at this c —t’s front door,” Barfoot bragged to his driver.

“The whole thing lit up on fire — it was crazy. Then I punched on with this c —t.

“That’s why I made sure you were ready to go,” he said laughing in the back seat.

As they drove off, the backpacker residents fought to contain the blaze, which caused $990 of damage to the building.

Justice Brownhill said Barfoot did not remember much of the attack on his suspected love rival’s room.

“I have no evidence of any genuine remorse for your action,” she said.

“I accept that you wanted to exact revenge against your girlfriend and the man you thought she had been with.”

Justice Brownhill was critical of the broad daylight attack, saying he was reckless to the threat of harm.

She said the concreter, former Gold Coast amusement ride operator and miner had a poor work history marred by a “work-binge cycle”.

“You are a man whose life has spiralled out of control by reason of your alcohol and drug addiction,” Justice Brownhill said.

On March 31 this year, Barfoot was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, to be suspended after 10 months.

Ms Brownhill ordered Barfoot to take part in a high intensity supervision program, warning “if you do fall off the wagon … you will spend some time in prison.”

He was also ordered to pay compensation for the damage to Frogshollow Backpackers.

Originally published as Dylan Barfoot threw Molotov cocktail at Darwin’s Frogshollow Backpackers