Frank Sdrolias: Guilty of role in Elderslie fatal house fire home invasion
The explosive details of an arson attack on a family home – inspired over revenge of an unpaid drug debt – can be revealed for the first time with a key player confessing to his role.
Macarthur
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A family’s horror can be revealed for the first time after their home burst into flames, killing one person, in a targeted arson attack after a key player in the deadly violence confessing to his role.
Frank Sdrolias, 20, of Thirlmere has pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to an aggravated break and enter when he drove Hayden Forrest and another man to a Crank Place home last June in a revenge-fuelled attack.
Court documents reveal Forrest had spent the day at licensed establishments such as Bradbury Hotel, Ambarvale Hotel and Narellan Hotel and decided it was time to collect on a drug money debt owed by Blake Sutherland.
The court heard about 10.45pm, Forrest and another man arrived at Mr Sutherland’s Elderslie home and demanded the money. When told by Mr Sutherland’s mum Lisa Sallows and her partner Aaron Bevan that he wasn’t home, Forrest replied with “we are ready to blow this f**king house up”.
Fifteen minutes later Sdrolias, who had been drinking with the two men earlier on, caught a taxi to Forrest’s Narellan Vale home. Court documents state that soon after Sdrolias was behind the wheel of Forrest’s Dodge SUV driving both men, with Forrest carrying a petrol can.
Sdrolias stayed inside the car as the men hopped out, kicked the front door in and began to smash the place up. The agreed statement of facts, tendered to the court, reveals that during the chaos Ms Sallows heard a man say “you’re all going to f**king die”.
Fires erupted inside the home laced with petrol, ultimately trapping Forrest in the theatre room where he burned to death.
Court documents revealed the horror felt by Mr Bevan, who raced around the house trying to locate his family and had feared his partner was inside the smoke-filled home. Fire and Rescue extinguished the blaze which resulted in a damage bill totalling $256,000.
As neighbours approached the burning home the second man, who remains before the courts, hopped in the waiting car and Sdrolias drove him back to Forrest’s home. The Thirlmere man then caught an Uber to a St Andrews address.
Three days after the home invasion, Sdrolias gave a handwritten statement to police admitting to driving the two men to Elderslie but claimed he thought it was just to collect money.
Sdrolias will be sentenced in Campbelltown District Court in coming months where he faces a maximum penalty of five years jail.