James Whitcombe: Palmerston sparky fined for accidentally torching mum's house

A Palmerston electrician has been fined after accidentally setting alight his mother’s house when he drunkenly set fire to his sister’s clothing, a court has heard.

Palmerston electrician James Ryan Whitcombe, 25. Picture: Facebook

A Palmerston electrician has been fined after accidentally torching his mother’s house when he drunkenly set fire to his sister’s clothing, a court has heard.

Updated, August 15: James Ryan Whitcombe, aged in his mid twenties, pleaded guilty in Darwin Local Court last month to a charge of aggravated damage to property.

Charges of arson, recklessly endangering life and aggravated assault were withdrawn by the Crown and dismissed.

The court previously heard that Whitcombe set fire to some clothing at his mother’s Humpty Doo address on August 5 last year.

The fire spread, causing extensive damage to the residence.

Last month, the court heard additional facts about the offending.

Crown prosecutor Rhiannon McGlinn said Whitcombe made a “stupid reckless decision” to torch his sister’s clothing after a night of “heavily drinking”.

Defence lawyer Samuel Davison said the clothing in question had been the subject of a familial dispute.

“He made a rash decision,” Mr Davison said.

“He began by ripping them. When the last two [items] didn’t rip, he used a lighter in his pocket.”

Mr Davison said his client then placed a damp cloth over the fire and went to bed presuming it had been extinguished.

When Whitcombe woke to the sound of flames engulfing the house, he helped evacuate family members, receiving burns to his back and smoke inhalation in the process.

Mr Davison said his client, who supervises a team of apprentices at a Berrimah-based electrical outfit, undertook significant work to repair the damage to his mother’s house, and transferred her $15,000 to make good the destruction.

Judge Elisabeth Armitage asked whether he had reigned in his binge drinking.

Whitcombe said it was a “lot better” than it was, thanks in part to a new prescription for medicinal cannabis.

She fined him $1500 and recorded a conviction.

Whitcombe has additional, unrelated charges of aggravated assault and recklessly endangering life returning to the Darwin Local Court on November 19 for a hearing.

He remains on bail for those charges.

Arson, child assault: Serious allegations against electrician

February 10: A Palmerston man has been granted strict bail after spending a number of weeks remanded in custody following two alleged incidents, one involving a young child.

Electrician James Ryan Whitcombe, 25, appeared in Darwin Local Court on Friday for the continuance of a bail application.

He is charged with four offences: arson, recklessly endangering life, damage to property and aggravated assault.

The Crown alleges that on August 5, 2023, while intoxicated, Mr Whitcombe “set fire to a bra” at an address at Humpty Doo, which was damaged when the fire spread.

The Crown further alleges that at an address in Darwin’s northern suburbs, on a date which was not revealed in open court, Mr Whitcombe slapped a young child to the face.

The court heard Mr Whitcombe had two domestic violence orders against him.

Prosecutor Chris Cooper said the Crown opposed bail due to an unacceptable risk of further offending.

The court was told there was a presumption against Mr Whitcombe being granted bail due to a prior conviction for aggravated assault, wherein he used a weapon to assault a female.

In arguing for bail, defence lawyer Clancy Dane said his client hadn’t meant to cause such damage and place the complainants at risk.

Northern Territory Local Court, Darwin. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

“This is not a case where there is this deliberate attempt to set a house on fire and hurt someone,” Mr Dane said.

He argued that his client was highly regarded in his workplace.

“He is a very valued member of his organisation, his skills in the industry are in high demand,” Mr Dane said.

He told the court the three to four weeks his client spent on remand were hellish for him.

Mr Dane said the jail was overcrowded and that Mr Whitcombe lost his laundry bag on his first day, so was unable to change clothes regularly and had developed a rash as a consequence of the poor hygiene.

The court heard that Mr Whitcombe's father, Tim, who had travelled from Kununurra in support of his son, could offer a $5000 surety, despite being a man of “limited means”.

Mr Dane argued this provided further motivation for Mr Whitcombe to abide by his bail conditions, as he would be “mortified” to see such a significant chunk of his dad’s savings be forfeited.

Mr Whitcombe was granted bail to live at an address in Gray with his father on conditions including that he wear an electronic monitoring device, not enter Darwin’s northern suburbs, abide by a 6pm–6am curfew, and not consume any drugs or alcohol.

His charges will be mentioned again on March 13.