Jeremiah Johnathon Murray’s narrow escape after setting group home ablaze

A man who spent the majority of his 20s behind bars set fire to a home that offered him shelter just three days after his last prison release, but was in tears when a judge told him he hadn’t lost hope on him yet.

A court has heard how a man nearly trapped himself in a blaze he started after being released from custody just days prior.

Jeremiah Johnathon Murray, 30, pleaded guilty in Ipswich District Court on January 26, 2023, to arson and wilful damage.

The court heard Murray had been released from custody just three days before he committed these most recent offences, and had been staying at an Indigenous Community Justice Group house in Raceview at the time.

Crown prosecutor Jessica Beckman said the fire started in the early hours of morning on November 12, 2021.

“Other residents of the property awoke the second floor of the building on fire,” Ms Beckman said.

She said Murray had admitted at the time to starting the fire and had explained he “felt trapped in his room” and had lit some of his own belongings on fire, but it “got out of hand”.

Ms Beckman said Murray first attempted to flee through the window, and threw a chest of drawers out the window at one stage, before finally escaping through the bedroom door.

She said the house sustained extensive fire and smoke damage, including over $40,000 worth of damage to possessions within the house.

Murray was charged at the time, and spent the following 439 days in custody awaiting his sentence.

Jeremiah Jonathon Murray was arrested after a fire at Raceview on November 12, 2021. Photo: Supplied

Ms Beckman noted that Murray had met with probation and parole authority earlier in the day before the offending, and they had explained the arrangements they were making to link him up with support services at the time.

“It’s not a case of having limited access or having been denied access to those services … He reoffended so quickly upon his release that he didn’t get a chance to actually engage,” she said.

Defence barrister Dan Boddice pointed out the probation and parole officer who spoke to Murray at the time had noted he was “behaving strangely” and had expressed “feelings of unrest about being back in the community”.

Mr Boddice said the context of the arson was “indicative of somebody who’s not necessarily of sound mind – or at least engaging in consequential thinking … He almost ended up trapped in the room that he incidentally lit on fire”.

The court heard Murray had spent much of his 20s in custody and had limited experience working or living in the community.

Judge Dennis Lynch noted a psychologist report described him as “mildly intellectually disabled and potentially institutionalised” – which he commented was “an underestimate” and “easy to conclude”.

The court heard Murray had been sentenced in 2020 to over six and a half years in custody for a armed robbery in company with actual violence, and his current release date (after having committing the arson on parole) was July 22, 2023.

Mr Boddice argued that making the sentence for the arson cumulative to that sentence would potentially be crushing for Murray.

Ms Beckman, however, argued that Judge Lynch should make the sentence cumulative for the sake of the community’s protection.

“It’s accepted that there was no malice or vindictive behaviour present in this case, but the very spontaneous nature of this incredibly serious conduct is concerning and is what makes Mr Murray such a threat to the community,” she said.

Judge Lynch questioned whether that would be “giving up” on Murray, considering the extensive amount of time he had already spent in custody.

“No one wants to see you get locked up for the rest of your life,” he told Murray – who started tearing up as he spoke.

“Every time you get out of jail you commit an offence, probably because you feel safer in jail.

“I don’t want you to lose hope for yourself – I haven’t lost hope, and I want to make sure as far as I can that there is at least some chance of you getting out of jail and living a decent life.

“It’s not necessarily going to be easy … You didn’t give it long enough to give it a proper try last time.”

Judge Lynch warned him, however, that he was lucky no one was injured on this occasion and told him: “If you keep doing the same sort of thing and disrespecting other people in their property and putting other people in danger, you will get locked up the most of the rest of your life”.

Murray was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment, with parole eligibility set for July 22, 2023 – to meet up with his current release date.

His 439 days of presentence custody were taken into account but not declared time-served, and convictions were recorded.