Luke and Liam Brown sentenced over Shepparton house fire

Enraged after the occupants refused to let them in, two brothers used a blowtorch to set a Shepparton house alight while people slept inside.

Two brothers who set fire to a Shepparton house with a blow torch while the occupants and their dog were inside sleeping after they were refused entry have gone to jail.

Liam Mitchell Brown and Luke Anthony Brown set fire to the house which was owned by the Department of Health and Human Services in Olympic Ave, Shepparton, on July 5, 2020.

Its occupants David Hume, Rebecca Hume, Emma-Radford Burner and Travis Hume ran out after waking up to thick smoke and a loud banging noise.

The brothers appeared for sentencing on Friday via a video link from prison.

Liam was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison, with a minimum non-parole of two years and four months.

His brother copped 18 months and will be eligible for release after serving one year.

Judge Arushan Pillay said the offending was serious as the brothers went into the house unannounced, set fire to the property while the tenants slept and did not alert anyone about the blaze.

A motionless Go Pro catches Liam and Luke Brown inside a Shepparton property, with Liam holding a blowtorch.

He said Luke was aware his brother had a blowtorch and watched him use it to set the TV and the front room alight but made no attempt to alert the sleeping occupants.

There was an element of premeditation and the fact Luke was drug-affected at the time was no justification for the offending, Judge Pillay said.

Luke was on parole at the time following his prison term imposed by the Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court in 2017 on a charge of wilfully damaging a property by fire.

Liam pleaded guilty in April to one charge of reckless conduct endangering others, one charge of arson and one charge of making a threat to inflict serious injury.

Luke pleaded guilty to one charge of reckless conduct endangering others.

Court documents stated the Brown brothers, who were known to the Hume brothers, acted in retribution after Liam was denied entry to the house.

Liam asked Rebecca Hume to let him and his brother into the house, but she said she didn’t have keys.

Liam Brown put a blowtorch to a Shepparton home on July 5, 2020.

When she asked what his problem was, Liam replied “you’ll see”.

The brothers then left but returned and entered the house at 7.46am, according to CCTV footage.

Liam carried a yellow propane blow torch inside and set fire to a television as Travis Hume was asleep only metres away.

He then went to Ms Hume’s empty bedroom and lit a fire with the blowtorch.

The brothers fled the scene about two-and-a-half minutes after entering the property, as smoke engulfed the house.

They were arrested the following day.

At a plea hearing last month, their lawyers submitted that a “straight sentence” of less than 12 months was appropriate due to factors such as the impact of a prison sentence and the factors that triggered their offending.