Ricky William Weston jailed after drunken rampage where he tried to set police car, family home on fire

A Stanthorpe dad has been jailed after he attempted to burn a police car and a family home while in a drunken state. Here’s what happened in court.

A Stanthorpe dad has been jailed after he attempted to set a police vehicle and residence on fire.

Ricky William Weston arrived in Warwick District Court on Friday, November 17 in handcuffs and prison greens, where he pleaded guilty to endangering property by fire (domestic violence offence) contravention of a DVO, and endangering property by fire.

The 41-year-old had a lengthy five-page criminal history with offences dating back two decades, Crown prosecutor Sam Rigby said.

The court was told the offending occurred while the man was on parole on April 18 at a home at Stanthorpe.

Weston began drinking wine after helping with chores, and quickly began causing a ruckus at the home to members of the family.

“He was asked to leave but quickly became paranoid and consumed more alcohol, he was told to leave again before he was locked inside a room,” Mr Rigby said.

The court was told Weston attempted to smash through the interior door with a pickaxe, before burning a piece of paper to set the door alight. The fire was put out with the help of neighbours, but the door was severely burnt.

The matter was quickly reported, with local police taking the man into custody.

It wasn’t much later when Weston attempted to set the police vehicle on fire, lighting up the seat – particularly the arm rest – causing more than $1000 damage to the vehicle.

Mr Rigby labelled the man’s conduct as “highly dangerous” showing “flagrant disregard” to the occupants of the house, with the possibility of the fire spreading being a “real danger”.

Defence lawyer Jess Goldie said the former panel beater “acknowledges he has a drinking problem”.

“He has lost everything to alcohol,” Ms Goldie said.

Judge John Allen KC said during sentencing that his verdict would focus on “protecting the Queensland community”.

“I hope the period in custody will constitute significant change. If you continue along this path you can only expect to spend longer in prison,” Judge Allen said.

“That would be a waste of your life when you have the capacity to be a useful member of society and a good parent.”

Weston was sentenced to one year and nine months in jail for lighting the fire in the family home, and 12 months for the police vehicle fire, to be served concurrently.

For the contravention charge, Weston was convicted but not further punished.

Judge Allen declared 213 days in custody as time served and set a parole eligibility date of November 17, 2023.

Convictions were recorded.