Samantha Darrington pleads guilty to setting fire to Norlane home

A Norlane mother told her neighbour she was going to burn her duplex down.

Samantha Darrington.

A Norlane woman who set a duplex on fire after neighbours refused to let her use their phone, told them “you better call the fire brigade because I am burning my house down with your family in it”.

Samantha Darrington, 25, pleaded guilty in the Koori Court in Geelong on Tuesday to the charge of arson with the intent to endanger life.

The court heard Darrington went next door to borrow a phone from her neighbours on June 4 last year but was told to “f--- off”.

Darrington then threatened to set fire to the duplex.

The woman’s neighbours, a mother and father with two kids, told Darrington she “wouldn’t dare” and called the police.

Police prosecutor Jessica Van Dyke said Darrington returned to her Cox Rd home.

Minutes later the neighbours heard Darrington’s smoke alarm go off before the woman ran from the scene.

The court heard the male neighbour chased Darrington as she said: “You better go back to your house because your kids are melting”.

The female neighbour, who was pregnant, evacuated her kids from their home.

The roof of Darrington’s home partially collapsed during the fire, which caused about $139,000 damage.

A forensic investigation found the fire was likely lit with a cigarette lighter in the centre of a bedroom.

Darrington was arrested on June 11 last year, but was deemed unfit for interview.

She told the court she couldn’t remember much about the offending.

“I don’t even know how I got in that state, but it wasn’t me, that’s for sure,” Darrington said.

“We had a lot of stuff going on at the time and I didn’t have much support at all.

“I can’t say why I did it … it’s hard to think back about this offence, I can’t really remember much about it,” she said.

Darrington was released on bail and will appear in the County Court in Melbourne on April 24.

Originally published as Samantha Darrington pleads guilty to setting fire to Norlane home