Isaac Lehane destroyed Myocum home of pro-surfer Derek Hynd causing $250k damage

A man burned down a pro-surfer’s home, killed his dog and destroyed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of possessions, all because of a fight with the man’s son.

A 26-year-old man had been enraged by a dispute over rent when he set alight a fire which destroyed a former pro surfer’s home and resulted in the death of a dog.

Isaac Lehane, 26, appeared in Tweed Heads Local Court on Wednesday where he was sentenced after pleading guilty to damaging property by fire worth more than $15,000.

Emergency crews at the house fire at Myocum.

Two more serious charges destroy or damage property by fire with intent to injure and destroy or damage property with intent to endanger life were withdrawn.

According to the agreed set of facts, Lehane was living with his girlfriend in a van on a property on Tyagarah Rd, Myocum, where he paid rent to the owner, former pro surfer Derek Hynd.

There his son Lochlan, another tenant and his dog lived in a refurbished shed converted into a home. Outside Lochlan’s room were two unused gas canisters.

The Rural Fire Brigade was called to the house fire.

Lochlan and Lehane were drinking and smoking marijuana on September 16, 2019, when they started to argue.

The argument started over minor things before turning to rent. Lochlan told Lehane he had to leave.

Lehane and his girlfriend went back to the van where Lehane was yelling. Lochlan heard it and started banging on the van door, telling him to leave.

The pair argued before Lehane came out holding a metal pole like object and Lochlan picked up a machete and said: “Are you seriously going to try to kill me? Are you going to die tonight?”

Lochlan returned to the house where he took sleeping medication and the household was asleep by midnight.

Between 15 to 20 minutes later Derek heard a sound of bottles dropping on the floor outside Lochlan’s room.

There Lehane had lit a piece of cardboard on fire which was on a window covering a broken spot.

Both Derek and Lochlan described smelling a strong odour soon after.

Derek described hearing a pop before he saw Lochlan come out his room with flames behind him.

Derek called triple-0 and woke up the other man before he saw Lehane running towards the house screaming for Lochlan.

The Myocum house was destroyed.

The house was burned to the ground. The dog perished in the fire.

Derek lost a collection of 25 collector’s surfboards worth $100,000, surfing memorabilia, a $5000 violin, household items, whitegoods, gaming and audio, a car and personal irreplaceable items - all up an estimated damage of $254,680.

Derek attended the police station the next day where he said he’d heard the van’s doors open and shut twice and suspected Lehane may have started the fire after an argument with Lochlan.

Lehane spoke to police on September 24 and admitted to arguing with Lochlan over rent. He said he saw the fire from the van and ran up the hill to find Lochlan and try and rescue the dog.

He attended again on November 26, 2019 and blamed his girlfriend for the fire.

He told police “I feel like she’s burned my best friend’s house down” and claimed she started the argument about rent.

On June 18, 2020, the girlfriend attended and said Lochlan and Lehane had been smoking marijuana “quite heavy” that day and more than usual along with drinking port, vodka and beer.

She told police Lehane had a Zippo lighter and he’d left the van to walk up to the house saying he was going to burn it down.

Lehane was then arrested on November 4 and charged.

Defence lawyer Rod Behan told the court on Wednesday Lehane had an acquired brain injury and mental health problems which meant there were special circumstances in his case.

Firefighters at the scene of the Myocum fire.

He said although the intoxication was no excuse for the offence, it explained part of what was a spontaneous offence where Lehane had no intention to harm the dog.

He asked the court to consider it a mid-range offence as the fire had not been set to cover another crime or destroy evidence.

Crown prosecutor Patrycja Dubieniecka said given the time in the morning it would be expected that the residents including the dog would be asleep.

She asked the court to consider Lehane had made threats to Lochlan prior to the fire although conceded the threats went both ways.

Magistrate Geoff Dunlevy noted some of the items destroyed had high sentimental value were “simply can’t be replaced” and was concerned about the dog’s death.

“The dog itself would have suffered a horrible death by suffering smoke inhalation or being burned to death,” Mr Dunlevy said.

He described the case as “a nasty offence with a significant impact” however took into account Lehane’s remorse, brain injury and mental health conditions.

He sentenced Lehane to two years in jail with a 14-month non-parole period, backdated to October 2.

Lehane will be eligible for parole on December 1, 2022.