Avoca arson accused pleads guilty in Bundaberg district court

A Bundaberg court has heard sinister details of the night a qualified electrician set his rental house alight and simply walked away.

Aaron See lit a pile of belongings in the Avoca home and left it to burn.

A Bundaberg court has heard sinister details of the night a man set his rental house alight and simply walked away.

Appearing in the District Court at Bundaberg, 33-year-old Aaron See pleaded guilty to arson.

The court heard the qualified electrician and former McDonald’s worker lit a pile of belongings in the Avoca home and left it to burn.

Firefighters at the scene on May 6 told the Bundaberg NewsMail the home had a high fuel load, with a number of items in the garage contributing to the blaze.

They had to cut through the garage door to help extinguish it.

Aaron See lit a pile of belongings in the Avoca home and left it to burn.

Firefighters also reported a 9kg LGC gas cylinder just inside the entrance way and nearby residents recalled a “loud bang”.

The house was destroyed and set to be fully demolished.

On Tuesday, the court heard the defendant was found on the night of the fire, intoxicated at a friend’s house.

Multiple crews tended to a fierce blaze in Bundaberg after Aaron See set his rental home alight.

When he sobered up the next day in the Bundaberg watch house, he made full admissions to the offending.

The court heard that while the owners of the home were paid $336,000 by their insurer, they still lost possessions such as family photos which were being stored in the garage.

Barrister Nick Larter told the court his client suffered a heart condition, for which he’d undergone several unsuccessful surgeries.

The court also heard that the man had been involved in a motorcycle crash at the age of 21 which had caused some “depressive-type” symptoms and a change to his demeanour.

His criminal history was minimal and he was supported in court by his family.

Crown Prosecutor Alexandra Baker called for a four-year sentence, suspended after 12 months.

Judge Martin Moynihan accepted the submission, with a four-year operational period and 159 days in custody counted as time already served.