Drug-crazed tenant sentenced after burning down Phillip Island rental

A drugged-up tenant set fire to his Phillip Island rental before fleeing and leaving panicked neighbours to battle the blaze.

McAdams was caught in the grip of a drug-fuelled psychosis when he burnt down his Port Phillip rental. Picture: Stock image

A drug-addled tenant who intentionally burnt down his Phillip Island rental property in a blaze that threatened neighbouring homes on New Year’s Eve has escaped further jail.

Michael McAdams, 29, was last month sentenced to time served by the County Court and a two-year community corrections order after earlier pleading guilty to arson.

The sentence means the unemployed former sushi shop worker spent 45 days behind bars for the incident, which occurred just hours before midnight on New Year’s Eve 2019.

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A tenant piled furniture into the loungeroom before soaking it in methylated spirits and setting it alight. Picture: Stock Image

The court heard McAdams, a regular cannabis user who lived at the property for three years with his mother, was caught in the grip of a drug-fuelled psychosis when he decided to set fire to the house.

His mother, who he cared for, had died just eight weeks earlier.

Judge Justin Hannebery said McAdams was sitting at home alone about 9.48pm on December 31 when a neighbour heard him yell, “F — k it. I just want to be with the people I love tonight.”

McAdams piled furniture and other items from the house in the living room before dousing it and the walls in methylated spirits.

He also placed gas cylinders along the side fence of the property before igniting a fire in the living room, which caused the house to quickly become “fully engulfed” in flames.

McAdams rescued his pet ferret and salvaged a few other personal items before fleeing.

He yelled “fire” as he drove away, and alarmed neighbours were left to battle the intense blaze by spraying water from their garden hoses until firefighters arrived.

Mr Hannebery said the offending was “bizarre” and out of character for McAdams, who had no prior criminal history.

A psychologist’s report concluded McAdams was likely experiencing “paranoid delusions” at the time of the offence, and the court was told he had failed to take medication for his Attention Deficit Disorder.

The fire completely destroyed the house, which was estimated to be worth about $169,000.

But Mr Hannebery noted McAdams had not been motivated to offend for the “thrill” of it or to collect insurance money.

This meant the offence, while serious, was not the worst case of offending.

“(The landlord) expresses how your actions in burning down the house he had owned for 30 years have cost him financially. He also expresses anger that you did this even after (he) says he had assisted your mother, his long-term tenant, significantly in her later years,” Mr Hannebery said.

“Your offending involved the wanton and completely unnecessary destruction of a property of very significant value belonging to another.

“The nature of the offence of arson also created a very real risk that the fire could have spread beyond the property and perhaps endanger life.”

McAdams must complete 150 hours of unpaid community work as part of his corrections order.

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