James Balcombe: Alleged party shop arsonist, stamp counterfeiter jailed for fake doctors note

He is accused of paying arsonists to burn down his competitor’s party stores and of producing high-quality counterfeit stamps but it’s a dodgy sick note that has put this man in jail.

AFP officers arrested James Balcombe at his Perth home in August 2019, Alleged counterfeit postal stamps seized at the Perth home of fugitive James Balcombe.

A jumping castle company owner alleged to have paid arsonists to set fire to rival businesses has been slapped with jail time for faking a doctors note.

James Balcombe was due in the Melbourne County Court in 2018 but instead forged a medical certificate in order to skip out on his court date.

The court heard he instructed his lawyer to submit the certificate which claimed he was recovering from surgery and was unable to appear.

Balcombe, 55, skipped court three times between May 2018 and October 2019 when he then went on the run and fled the state.

Police spoke to the office of plastic surgeon Dr Dean White who confirmed Mr Balcombe had never been a patient at his Box Hill clinic and the certificate was a fake.

AFP officers arrested James Balcombe at his Perth home. Picture: Supplied/AFP

Mr Balcombe, the owner of Awesome Party Hire, is accused of hiring two men to wipe out rival jumping castle businesses in Melbourne between December 2016 and February 2017.

The men, Craig Anderson and Peter George Smith, last year pleaded guilty to the $2 million torching spree of party hire companies in Werribee, Hallam, Tullamarine, Keysborough and Warragul.

Dozens of bouncing castles, a stretch limo and mechanical bull were also destroyed in an inferno at a Hoppers Crossing factory owned by A & A Jumping Castles.

The arsonists said Mr Balcombe offered them $10,000 to set fire to the businesses which he accused of stealing his ideas.

Alleged counterfeit postal stamps seized at the Perth home of fugitive James Balcombe. Picture: Supplied/AFP

In August 2019, Balcombe was arrested in Perth, WA and extradited by Australian Federal Police to Melbourne over an alleged sophisticated postal scam.

AFP Detective Superintendent David Berston alleged Mr Balcombe was manufacturing high-quality counterfeit stamps and used them to provide free postage and handling to his customers.

“We will allege this man was forging stamps to create a financial advantage for himself,” he said.

Police allegedly seized fake stamps, a high-end printer, two unlicensed firearms, two prohibited flick knives and credit cards in other people’s names during a search of his home in Dianella, WA.

Balcombe plead guilty to falsifying a doctors note and has been sentenced to 14 days in jail. He will return to court later this year on other charges.