Rodney James Mullins faces Coffs court after setting Lowanna General Store on fire

A Coffs Coast man who set fire to a general store after splashing the premises with accelerant has been punished for his dangerous offending.

Rodney James Mullins was found guilty at hearing of setting fire to the Lowanna General Store on March 6, 2020.

A Coffs Coast man who set fire to the Lowanna General Store after splashing the premises with accelerant has been jailed for 18 months.

Rodney James Mullins, 54, pleaded not guilty at Coffs Harbour Local Court, but he was found guilty at hearing of setting the shop alight on March 6, 2020.

Mullins “poured a trail of accelerant from the pathway at the front of the store, on the front porch and doormat” before igniting the liquid and running away about 8.45pm, the Crown contended.

The crime scene at Lowanna General Store.

The country general store was built in 1923 and it has two fuel bowsers out front and Magistrate Julia Virgo said the “damage could have been more significant”.

The accelerant was mostly burnt out by the flames after about a minute, but the blaze caused more than $7000 damage, since covered by insurance, the court heard.

A neighbour used an extinguisher to attack some small smouldering areas as the fire raged, according to court documents.

Another resident saw a caucasian man dragging a fuel drum and running up Grafton St.

The resident called out and took off after the man, but he got away and lost a thong while fleeing

Fire crews arrived and extinguished the blaze, which left the premises with minor structural and smoke damage.

DNA from the thong matched the DNA profile of Mullins, court documents state.

Mullins told police he bought some beers at the store on March 6, drank one there and another at a bus stop and returned home before it got dark.

The Lowanna man told police he left a brand new pair of thongs on the ground as they were a size too small and causing him discomfort.

Ms Virgo told the court the circumstances of the crime indicated a degree of planning.

The shop was set alight.

As Ms Virgo was handing down her ruling in court on Wednesday, Mullins stood and said “hurry up and sentence me” and “I want to go to jail” before he was taken away by sheriffs.

Mullins was sentenced to 18 months jail with a non-parole period of eight months on the charge of damaging a property by fire/explosion greater than $5000 and less than $15,000.

He will be eligible for release on March 11 next year.

Mullins also pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing 7.55g of cannabis leaf and was convicted without further penalty.

Originally published as Rodney James Mullins faces Coffs court after setting Lowanna General Store on fire