Gay Fulton jailed for setting fire to police station

A woman who stripped naked outside a Territory police station and started ‘dancing and clapping’ before setting her clothes on fire has spent a few months in jail.

A WOMAN in her 60s who stripped naked outside the Palmerston police station and started “dancing and clapping” before setting all her clothes on fire has spent five months in jail.

Gay Fulton, better known as Scruffy, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to damaging the building with fire and was handed a nine month sentence, suspended after time served.

The court heard the then 65-year-old was a frequent visitor to the Palmerston cop shop when she was captured outside the building on CCTV shortly after 7pm on July 17 this year.

The footage shows Fulton “banging on the entry windows” before twice stripping naked after she was provided with clothes by a custody nurse in-between each incident.

Justice Jenny Blokland said at about 9.40pm, Fulton then piled her clothing and a sheet at the station’s front door “trying to get the items under the door”.

“She set the clothes and sheet alight and waited to ensure the items had caught fire,” she said.

“She left the immediate area but did not go far. The fire alarms inside the police station were set off. The fire cracked the glass of the front door of the police station.”

In sentencing, Justice Blokland noted Fulton’s “voluminous” criminal history, which included attempted arsons against the South Australian Public Trustee and criminal damage by fire against an ANZ bank in Western Australia.

Palmerston Police Station.

“From the facts of some of those previous matters that have been put before the court, similar themes and a modus operandi can be seen in relation to Ms Fulton’s offending,” she said.

“That said, it is obviously that Ms Fulton is someone who has had a very difficult background and has developed an anti-social personality disorder, which some experts suggest has been with occasional psychosis, which can be precipitated by cannabis use.”

Justice Blokland said while Fulton’s personal circumstances were tragic, a psychiatrist had concluded “that her underlying disturbed personality is, essentially, untreatable”.

“As may be obvious from the facts, she was homeless at the time of offending,” she said.

“Given the general motivation for some of her offending, it may well be that the assistance she wanted from police was to be able to stop over in the watch-house or something similar.”

Justice Blokland said Fulton’s “bizarre attention-seeking behaviour … can be seen as the direct product of her personality disorder and is substantially beyond her self-control”.

“I do accept this is at the lower end of offending that can be contemplated within arson charges,” she said.

“I do understand the police station was shut at the time, but nevertheless, offending against buildings like police stations are likely to cause alarm in the community.”