Convicted Tweed murderer Graham Keys-Smith jailed for threatening to burn woman’s house down while on parole

A Tweed man who orchestrated a violent home invasion which claimed the life of a drug dealer in a fire is back in prison after threatening to burn a woman’s house down.

Tweed man Keys-Smith is back behind bars.

A Tweed man who orchestrated a violent home invasion which claimed the life of a drug dealer is back in prison after threatening to put a woman in a coma and burn her house down.

Luke Ogilvie’s burnt remains were found outside his torched home following a botched Bilambil robbery in March, 2010.

Luke Ogilvie who died in a house fire in Bilambil after a group of men tried to rip him off in a bad drug deal, including Keys-Smith.

Graham Keys-Smith was found guilty of murder and arson in 2012. He was sentenced to 14 years jail with parole eligibility in 2021.

Benjamin and Andrew Biffin and Nicholas McCulloch were sentenced for manslaughter.

Keys-Smith, 40, fidgeted as he was visible over via audio visual link during sentencing before Judge Jonathan Priestley in Lismore District Court.

Keys-Smith pleaded guilty to threatening or causing injury to person for being a witness between November 24 and December 10 last year. She gave evidence against him in a Supreme Court murder trial in 2011/12.

While released on parole, Keys-Smith threatened to harm the woman through a series of text messages and phone calls.

On October 16, Crown prosecutor Oliver Gilson said Keys-Smith told the court he tried to re-establish a previous relationship with the victim, but she had an apprehended violence order (AVO) put in place.

Mr Gilson told the court in a “number of calls you (Key-Smith) said you want to go up to where she lives and burn the house down, murder the lot of them”.

He said Keys-Smith said at the time he had “already done 12 years might as well do it properly”.

Text messages read: “I just wanna go kill the dog” and “Yeah I’m just gonna (sic) go up and burn the house down f--k it, murder all of them put em in a coma I don’t give a f--k”.

The house of murdered Bilambil man Luke Ogilvie. Keys-Smith was found guilty of murder and arson in March, 2010.

Keys-Smith said he must have been big-noting himself to act tough and he could not remember the threats.

“I am so embarrassed, I am gobsmacked,” he told the court.

Police arrested Keys-Smith on December 13, 2022 and his parole was revoked.

Intercepted calls and texts showed Keys-Smith asked how many rooms were in the victim’s home, how many dogs were there and who was the biggest threat.

Defence lawyer Rod Behan told the court Keys-Smith had no intention of acting on his “bravado” and was more interested in being home to help his sick mother.

Mr Behan said Keys-Smith dropped out of school in year nine, ended up in strife and was then abused

Keys-Smith struggled with “maladaptive” behaviour related to the use of amphetamines, alcohol and other drugs, the court heard.

Keys-Smith has faced drug issues, the court heard.

Mr Behan pointed to a psychiatrist report from September 2022 which stated Keys-Smith lived with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Judge Priestley said he was convinced Keys-Smith had been influenced by drugs during offending.

He told the court if those assisting the courts “are threatened they won’t give evidence and criminals won’t be caught”.

Judge Priestley said Keys-Smith was in custody for breaching parole with “very serious” offending.

Keys-Smith was sentenced to six months imprisonment expiring June 12. However, he remains behind bars serving the balance of parole, which expires April 18, 2025.

He is listed to appear before the State Parole Authority on October 27 for a review of parole revocation.