Kioren Michael Stokes jailed over arson and attempted insurance fraud

A father’s plan to falsely claim more than $20k by setting his own cars alight fell apart when police became suspicious of his fresh burns.

A father’s plan to falsely claim more than $20k by setting his own cars alight fell apart when police became suspicious of his fresh burns.

When police knocked on Kioren Michael Stokes’s front door after his Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon were found burnt out on a Black River Road, he refused to show his face and told officers he was self isolating.

Townsville District Court heard Stokes, 31, had good reason to hide, having burnt himself after setting both cars alight in the May 8, 2020 arson.

Kioren Michael Stokes will spend four months out of a two-year sentence in jail, after the arson of his two cars in an act of attempted insurance fraud in 2020.

Crown Prosecutor Josh Francis said when an ambulance was called to Stokes’s house later that day, he told paramedics he had been burnt when his lawnmower exploded.

A forensic investigation later revealed the mower had not been the cause of his injuries.

The court heard that Stokes later made an attempt to swindle a total of $20,500 from his insurer.

But the attempted fraud was short lived, with Stokes withdrawing his claim just under two months after it was lodged.

Stokes pleaded guilty to two counts of arson and one count of attempted fraud.

Mr Francis told the court of Stokes’s three-page criminal history which included time spent in custody for an enter premises with intent and an assault with intent to steal, and minor drug offending.

Barrister Ross Malcomson argued against Stokes spending time in custody, telling the court he needed to look after his children.

He said Stokes’s offending had impacted him mentally and physically, and that he had been diagnosed with depression and anxiety.

As submissions were made as to why he should not be sentenced to serve actual time in custody, Stokes began to cry in the dock.

But when Judge Jennifer Rosengren asked why Stokes had committed the “premeditated” attempted fraud and arson, Mr Malcomson said he could not “present an answer”.

Stokes was sentenced to two years jail, suspended after spending four months in custody for an operational period of two and a half years.

Originally published as Kioren Michael Stokes jailed over arson and attempted insurance fraud