JAIL: Business owner set fire to claim $700k payout
She testified she did not commit arson but the jury did not believe her story.
Police & Courts
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A WALKERSTON business owner has been jailed for four years after being convicted of setting fire to her own store to secure a $700,000 insurance payout.
A jury found Devereaux Creek woman Narelle Ann Cooper guilty of arson after a trial in Mackay District Court.
The Crown alleged she started a fire in her NewsXpress newsagency in Walkerston on July 30, 2018, using butane canisters sold in the store, because she was in debt.
Crown prosecutor Stephanie Gallagher said the Crown alleged Mrs Cooper set something on fire within the business she owned and that she did it on purpose.
Ms Gallagher alleged the woman's motive was financial issues - there were two loans from Westpac for the couple's home and the business and finance on the shop fit-out.
The jury has accepted those facts.
The trial began on August 27 and concluded yesterday. The jury began deliberations at 2.45pm and had returned a verdict within a matter of hours.
Chief Judge Brian Devereaux subsequently sentenced Cooper to four years jail. No parole date was set.
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Fire crews were called to the Walkerston Shopping Complex at 5.49pm on July 30, 2018 after a worker at a nearby butcher saw flames and smoke in NewsXpress newsagency.
The blaze was quickly doused but the court heard during the trial "there was a large amount of damage".
Mrs Cooper told police she closed the doors about 5.30pm that day and left the building about 5.40pm.
The court heard "only nine minutes" later the fire was spotted.
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Mrs Cooper's barrister, Tony Collins, argued during the trial that the fire could have started accidentally after his client dropped a candle in a 60L bin filled with wastepaper.
When she testified, Mrs Cooper said to the "best of my knowledge" the candle had been extinguished when she put it in the bin behind the counter.
She told the court she did not set fire to her business and that she could not recall two loan defaults with Westpac or subsequent default notices.
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