Sunshine West’s Bailey Hobbs sentenced to two years’ jail for firebombing

A Sunshine West man torched a convenience store at the height of Melbourne’s tobacco wars to settle a large drug debt.

A Sunshine West man helped torch a convenience store in the midst of Melbourne’s tobacco wars to help settle a large drug debt, a court has heard.

Bailey Hobbs, 24, was sentenced to a minimum of 17 months’ jail for his role in torching a Sunshine West convenience store in January 2024.

Hobbs travelled to DB Convenience Store on Glengala Rd just after 3am on January 12, 2024 and set the store on fire.

Hobbs was observed on CCTV pouring the contents of one of the jerry cans into the store before he left.

Hobbs returned a few minutes later and threw an item he retrieved from the vehicle into the store while another person he was with put an ignited item into the store.

Hobbs was among six people arrested in Melbourne in early 2024 in relation to a spate of firebombings in Melbourne’s well documented tobacco war.

Arson chemist John Kelleher seized various items from the scene, including a mixture of moderately evaporated petrol and diesel fuel, referred to as an “improvised form of napalm”.

The precise value of the damage done to the store could not be quantified due to a lack of co-operation from the store’s owner, the court heard.

On January 17, 2024, Hobbs handed himself into the Melbourne West police station who subsequently arrested him and raided his home.

The Sunshine West firebombing was one of a spate of arson attacks in Victoria between December 2023 and January 2024, with other attacks at Moe, Croydon, Altona and Altona North.

The Sunshine West firebombing was one of a spate in Melbourne’s west at the start of 2024. Picture: 9NEWS

Judge Gabriele Cannon said Hobbs’ offending was “serious” and he was lucky the damage to the premises was minor.

“The offending was pre-planned, as opposed to spontaneous,” Judge Cannon said.

“The community is sick of this sort of conduct, Mr Hobbs.”
Judge Cannon told the court he had a “concerning” criminal history and that he was on a community corrections order at the time of the arson attack.

Judge Cannon said his motivation for the attack was due to clear a drug debt between $8000 and $10,000.

Hobbs was using methamphetamine daily at the time of his offending, the court heard.

Hobbs, who grew up in Bacchus Marsh, “has good support in the community” from his partner, father and stepmother.

The court heard Hobbs was in a horrific crash as a teenager which resulted in the death of his best friend and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result.

Judge Cannon said Hobbs had “guarded” prospects of rehabilitation.
“Don’t go backwards when you are released,” Her Honour told Hobbs.

Hobbs, who has served 496 days in custody, was sentenced to a total of two years’ jail.