Jayden Ries, 24, sentenced at Lismore court for arson, property damage and intimidation after Boundary St, Tweed Heads fire
An arsonist has been jailed after he torched a Tweed Heads unit block following a dispute in which he waved a butter knife around threateningly while in his underwear.
Police & Courts
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An arsonist who screamed “I’m going to kill everyone”, set fire to a Tweed apartment building and then “threw himself” out a window could be free in a few months.
Jayden Ries faced Lismore District Court on Friday.
The 24-year-old set fire to the Boundary St, Tweed Heads unit block on March 17 last year, following an argument with a neighbour in which he threw a chair through a window.
Ries yelled “I’m going to kill everyone, I’m torching this place”, the court was told.
The unit block was completely destroyed in the fierce blaze, which resulted in a small army of emergency services workers being called to the scene.
Ries pleaded guilty to destroying property, aggravated breaking and entering and committing a serious indictable offence with people present, intimidation, damaging property with fire and breaching an apprehended violence order.
The Tweed Heads man was caught by police after he jumped from the two-storey building, which was engulfed by flames sometime before 10.50pm.
Ries “threw himself” out of the window in a bid to flee, Judge Jonathan Priestley said.
Emergency services evacuated about 20 residents and eight police officers had to be treated for smoke inhalation.
Acting Commander of Tweed Byron Police District Superintendent Mark Wall said at the time the blaze could have spread further and “been catastrophic”.
Defence barrister Jason Watts told the court Ries had been intoxicated and the offending was “impulsive and unplanned”.
Mr Watts said Ries started the fire on a couch in his own apartment to hurt himself, but the blaze got out of control.
Mr Watts said Ries was not trying to burn the whole unit block down, only his own apartment after a dispute with a neighbour – in which he waved a butter knife around threateningly while in his underwear.
“The damage is self-inflicted, which got out of hand,” the court heard.
Judge Priestley pointed out Ries still set fire to a residential building and put lives at risk.
Mr Watts asked for leniency considering Ries’ “complex PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder)” after a “neglectful childhood”.
Judge Priestley acknowledged Ries’ hardships, but said the punishment needed to fit the crime.
Ries’ sentence was backdated to count the 18 months already spent in custody on remand.
He was sentenced to an aggregate term of imprisonment of 42 months, expiring on December 16, 2025 with a non-parole period of 21 months.
Ries will be eligible for parole on December 16
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