Ashley Holtman: Druggie firebug torched Chelsea neighbour’s caravan
An ice-addled arsonist who set fire to a caravan at the park where he was staying was lucky he didn’t burn the whole site down.
South East
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A drugged-up pyromaniac who set an empty caravan ablaze, causing $5000 in damage and sparking a grassfire, has fronted court.
Thankfully a neighbour at the Chelsea caravan park managed to put out the small grassfire before it got out of control, but couldn’t save the caravan.
Ashley Holtman pleaded guilty to one charge of arson at the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
The court heard on April 4 this year the 48-year-old left the caravan where he was staying and jumped on his bike.
He rode around the site and stopped at an empty caravan, and walked inside.
He then lit it up, with flames quickly engulfing it and spreading to the grassed area outside.
Holtman got back on his bike and rode off back to his van.
A neighbour saw the flames and rushed to put out the blaze.
He quickly got the grassfire under control, but the caravan was too far gone.
A site manager watched CCTV vision taken from near the fire and went to speak to Holtman, who admitted lighting the blaze but wouldn’t say why.
Police were called and found him wearing the same clothes and with the same bike parked outside.
He was arrested and remanded, but was unfit to be interviewed.
Defence lawyer Farah Banihali said a lack of permanent housing, mental health concerns and drug abuse were all factors involved in this unusual crime.
She said he had already spent around four months on remand, and without support he was a risk of reoffending if he didn’t abstain when he was eventually released.
Magistrate Julie O’Donnell said due to his ice use and linked mental health issues it was apparent he had been significantly unwell at the time.
She sent Holtman for a corrections assessment, saying a combination sentence of a jail term followed by a therapeutic treatment order was where she was headed.
He was remanded in custody and will be appear in court again on August 5.
