Jennifer Hay: Manslaughter sentencing for fatal Kooringal house fire
A woman who set a house on fire which ultimately killed a 36-year-old woman trapped inside is now a “changed” person, a court has heard.
The Wagga News
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A Tolland woman who set a house on fire which ultimately killed a 36-year-old woman trapped inside is now a “different person”, a court has heard.
Jennifer Louise Hay, 48, appeared via video link from Clarence Correctional Centre at Wagga District Court for sentencing on Friday after pleading guilty to manslaughter in July.
The court heard Hay set fire to a couch located on the porch of a house on Tichborne Crescent, Kooringal in February 2019.
The house subsequently caught alight and the fire claimed the life of 36-year-old Kylie Green, who was trapped inside the Tichborne Crescent home at the time.
Hay’s barrister Eric Wilson told the court his client had completely changed and was remorseful for her actions.
“She is a different person now from what she was shown as when she was on a body worn police video, she’s a different person and talks differently now and has changed,” he said.
“She set fire to a couch with no intention of killing anyone inside the property, she wasn’t expecting it at all.
“It was a single act of lighting a couch on fire. It was reckless and in my submission, the manslaughter offence is unhelpful.
“The offence was committed due to the emotional stress she was under at the time which comes from her background.”
The crown prosecutor argued regardless of how the fire started, it still took the life of a person.
“Hay set fire to the couch which quickly caught fire and set fire to the house,” he said.
“There really isn‘t much difference between setting fire to a house and the couch, as it caught alight so quickly.”
Judge Gordon Lerve said it was an incredibly serious matter.
“Sentences for manslaughter range from 12 months to 20 years, I am in uncharted territory as far as the sentence,” he said.
Hay remains remanded in custody with her sentence to be handed down in May.
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