Zak Merrell-Rose pleads guilty over Nissan Skyline insurance fire
Hidden video cameras within the Ourimbah State Forest have helped nabbed two men who deliberately set fire to a Nissan Skyline in a botched insurance scam bid, a court has heard.
Central Coast
Don't miss out on the headlines from Central Coast. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A man has pleaded guilty to destroying property in company after his solid build, short hair and unexplained phone records linked him to the scene of a deliberately lit fire, a court has heard.
Zak Adam Merrell-Rose pleaded guilty to a single count of destroying property in company at Wyong Local Court on Monday, nearly 18 months after he was captured on hidden CCTV cameras torching a Nissan Skyline in bushland at the Ourimbah State Forest.
The court heard the 21-year-old, of Blue Haven, had initially pleaded not guilty but had changed his plea after his co-accused was convicted and sentenced to a community corrections order.
An agreed set of facts states Merrell-Rose was an associate of Lachlan Gregory Kenny who was given $8000 by his grandfather to purchase a Nissan Skyline on his grandfather’s behalf in June 2020.
The car was fully insured to the value of $20,000.
His grandfather stayed overnight at a Kanwal address on August 16, 2020, but woke the following morning to discover his car was missing and he called police.
The same day the car was found burned out on Red Hill Rd in the Ourimbah State Forest.
The facts state covert cameras operated in partnership between Tuggerah Lakes Police, Central Coast Council, the EPA and Darkinjung Aboriginal Land Council, captured Kenny’s vehicle, a Ford utility, and the Skyline being driven into the bush about 1am.
“The photos captured by the covert cameras include vehicle registration plates and images of a male with a solid build, short hair and carrying a plastic fuel container,” the facts state.
NRMA Insurance investigated the $20,000 insurance claim, which was later retracted.
Kenny was arrested on December 24, 2020, and made admissions to setting the vehicle on fire “without his grandfather’s knowledge or approval” to “help” his grandfather financially once the claim was paid out.
He pleaded guilty to destroying property in company by fire and was sentenced in May last year to a community corrections order for two years with 100 hours of community service.
Merrell-Rose was interviewed by police in January last year and admitted the camera images resembled a person of his “build/stature” and that his phone records indicated he was in the area at the time of the fire.
“The accused agreed there were unusual circumstances showing his involvement and was unable to offer any reasonable hypothesis or elucidate any further,” the facts state.
The court heard Merrell-Rose had since gained full-time employment and no longer associated with his old friend Kenny.
He was sentenced to a community corrections order for 18 months with 200 hours of community service.
The court heard the fire predated a wild brawl Merrell-Rose was involved in at the Tuggerah Super Centre in September 2020, in which he chased a group of young people while armed with a baseball bat in front of terrified shoppers.
Merrell-Rose was fined $1100 and sentenced to an intensive corrections order for nine months after pleading guilty to affray, driving while suspended and being armed with intent.
Drink-driving dad ‘ejected’ from wreckage with young boy in car
A drink-driving dad was ejected from wreckage after “ripping” his car apart in a horrific crash on a rain-soaked road. His eight-year-old son was in the front passenger seat.
Read more
Man who filmed teen under cinema toilet door sentenced
A man who filmed a teenage boy under the door of a cinema toilet cubicle has avoided jail despite being classified as being “above average risk of reoffending”, a court has heard.
Read more