Sunday Bol fronts court over Thomastown arson
A bumbling drug addict arsonist burnt himself while setting fire to a business in Thomastown in return for cash and drugs.
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A cocaine addict who torched a Thomastown business in return for drugs and money then lied to police and doctors about how he received burns to his body has been jailed.
Sunday Bol, 21, of St Albans pleaded guilty in the County Court last week to two charges of arson and was sentenced to two-and-a-half years’ imprisonment on Tuesday.
Bol drove to the Emerald Reception Centre on Settlement Rd in Thomastown in a stolen Ford Ranger just before 6am on February 22 this year, broke into the business premises and set fire to the office and entrance areas.
Bol then drove to Nathan Court in Bundoora about 6.10am, set the Ford Ranger on fire and ran from the scene.
The vehicle was one of three stolen from a Wonga Park house sometime between February 19 and 20, 2024 but Bol was not implicated in that offending.
After setting fire to the Ford Ranger, he boarded a tram nearby and got off at Preston.
Bol then approached a witness on Wood St in Preston and asked him to call an ambulance, saying he’d been involved in a motor bike accident.
Bol told police he was involved in a motor bike accident where he crashed into a tree at 90km/h while heavily affected by drugs.
He was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital where he told a clinician that he was involved in a cooking accident and accidentally spilt oil on his right hands and right ankle.
Although he was promised drugs and money in return for the arson, Bol did not receive anything.
Judge Gavan Meredith said Bol committed the offence about eight months after his release from prison in May 2023 following his conviction in County Court on charges of aggravated carjacking, robbery and affray.
Despite his young age and early guilty plea, the judge said jail was an appropriate sentence given that the charges were serious and in light of Bol’s priors.
“Both charges are premeditated and serious examples of arson. You were engaged in the arson of the business premises in the expectation of reward and consequent upon that destroyed the motor vehicle.
An insurance claim as at May this year put the fire damage at about $830,000. The business is not expected to re-open before the end of 2025
Bol will be eligible for parole in 15 months.
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