Suka Waqabaca: Campsie man attacked neighbour with bat, lit fire
A man with a history of violence took it upon himself to deal with what he claims was an annoying neighbour by attacking him with a baseball bat and then setting fire to his couch.
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A dispute between two neighbours in Campsie turned ugly when one man tried to bash his neighbour with a baseball bat before setting fire to his room, a court has heard.
Suka Waqabaca, 62, has been in custody for almost a year over the frightening incident on September 25 2019.
The NSW District Court heard, during his sentence on Monday, that Waqabaca was living at a boarding house on Eighth Ave and became annoyed with a neighbour who also lived at the property.
Waqabaca’s lawyer claimed the younger male victim had been “a pest” since moving into the property – which included nine rooms and shared facilities – and the pair had argued the day before the offence.
The agreed facts stated Waqabaca wanted to “beat the s*** out of him” and went up to his room to collect his baseball bat.
He walked down to the shared toilet knowing the victim was inside before bashing on the door and forcing it open while yelling “I am going to kill you”.
The agreed facts stated he took a swing at the victim with the bat but the victim managed to close and lock the door, before climbing out a window and fleeing.
Waqabaca then took a lighter into the victim’s room and set fire to a couch.
When emergency services arrived smoke was seen coming from the room and Waqabaca admitted he had started the fire and was arrested.
The court heard Waqabaca, originally from Fiji, has two other violent offences on his criminal record in NSW.
Judge Michael Adams scolded him and said “the fact is you need to stop being violent” before adjourning the matter until August 12 to hand down his sentence.
Waqabaca has pleaded guilty and is being sentenced for two charges of armed with intent to commit serious indictable offence, and break and enter and commit serious indictable offence.
A further offence of stalk or intimidate will be considered on a Form One.