Glenn Martin Cairns jailed for torching Rockville home in family dispute

A disability carer was forced to flee an inferno, pushing a man with cerebral palsy to safety, after the man’s brother doused them and a Toowoomba home in fuel.

In July 2025, Glenn Martin Cairns was sentenced to a four-month jail term for setting fire to a Rockville home while a disabled man and his carer were inside.

A Darling Downs man who lit his disabled brother’s home on fire, did so in a fit of rage after their mother refused to let him use a car, a court has been told.

Toowoomba District Court was told that seconds before an inferno engulfed the Rockville home in March 2024, a man with cerebral palsy had to be pushed to safety by his carer.

However, Glenn Martin Cairns was still inside the home when he ignited the fuel that he’d splashed around inside the property.

Cairns managed to escape the blaze, which gutted the interior of the family trust home, with minor burns to his feet.

During the incident, the 48-year-old splashed the accelerant from a jerry can onto the legs and feet of his brother and the healthcare worker.

The Toowoomba court heard Glenn Martin Cairns, 48, had an extensive criminal history marred by drug use.

The Office of Public Prosecutions and the 48-year-old’s legal team agreed that Mr Cairns would plead guilty to the crime on the basis he did not intend to set the house on fire with the people inside, nor did he purposefully splash them, the court was told.

The court was also told that the 58-year-old carer, who did not provide a victim impact statement, told investigators when she physically dragged the man from the home, she could feel extreme heat from flames on her back.

However, both parties informed Judge Benedict Power KC that although Cairns’ psychiatric report included that account from the woman, the evidence was not to be taken into account.

Rather, the woman felt the heat of the fire after pushing the man out the front door, moments before she saw a bright flash.

Crown prosecutor Abby Kong said an argument between Cairns’ and his mother triggered the event, and she was on the phone to the carer as he doused the home in fuel.

She said Cairns, who came clean straight away, waited in the backyard of the property for police to arrive as neighbours, then firefighters, worked to control the fire.

Police at the crime scene after the fire on Vanity Street, Rockville, about 2pm on March 8, 2024.

Ms Kong said Cairns’ had quite the criminal history, which largely included property and drug offences, however he was convicted in 2014 of a violent domestic violence crime where he wounded a family member.

In response to the judge’s queries, barrister Jens Streit told the court Cairns’ family’s insurance covered the property, and his brother was eligible for 12 months’ rent after the fire.

He noted the family trust included a number of properties, one of which was a farm that recently sold for $10m.

Mr Streit said Cairns’ family, including his brother, had attended court in support of him.

He said the offending occurred in the context of Cairns’ longstanding mental health struggles, and that he was extremely remorseful for his impulsive actions.

Judge Power told Cairn’s his crime was extremely serious, especially given he put his neighbours at risk as well as emergency responders.

Luckily the fire did not damage the structure of the property, however internally, everything was either smoke, fire, or water damaged.

He said the sentence would take into account Cairns’ did not intentionally splash fuel on his brother and his carer, nor that people were present when he lit the match.

Judge Power noted Cairns’ longstanding mental health struggles, which were exacerbated by drug use, as well as his prejudicial upbringing.

If not for the continued support of his family, Judge Power told Cairns’ he would’ve been facing a harsher penalty, nothing the maximum for his crime was life.

Cairns entered his pleas of guilty before the Toowoomba District Court on Thursday, July 24, to two counts of assault (for the fuel dousing) and one count of arson in a domestic violence setting.

He was sentenced to a four year jail term, and the 503 days he served on remand were deemed as time served.

His release will be at the discretion of the Parole Board of Queensland.

Originally published as Glenn Martin Cairns jailed for torching Rockville home in family dispute