John Jackson jailed for setting fire to Darwin Plaza building ‘in a fit of temper’

The man told police he lit the fire because he was ‘stuck in there’ but Justice Kelly said he was ‘perfectly capable of getting out by yourself as you did after you lit the fire’.

John Jackson was jailed in the Supreme Court in Darwin for four years with a non-parole period of two years. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

A man who set fire to building materials in the Darwin Plaza carpark “in a fit of temper”, forcing the CBD building's evacuation last year has been jailed for four years.

John Jackson pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to one count of arson following the incident on July 20 last year.

The court heard the building was undergoing renovation works when Jackson entered a storage area in the carpark where a large amount of building material was being stored.

The gate to the carpark was locked about 5.40pm while Jackson was still inside and he yelled out to a man in West Lane “Hey bro, can you open the door for me?”

The man replied that Jackson would have to wait as he didn’t have a key but would “call someone to open the door”.

Instead of waiting, Justice Judith Kelly said Jackson “got angry” and lit a piece of paper with a cigarette lighter and placed the burning paper onto a stack of large wooden boxes.

“You stood next to that and you watched as the fire took hold of the boxes,” Justice Kelly said.

“As the fire grew bigger and hotter you climbed over the gate, out of the carpark and walked away.”

The fire “caused significant grey smoke to billow” and members of the public had to be evacuated from the building while police directed others away from the area before fireys were able to extinguish the blaze.

Patrolling officers later found Jackson nearby in Civic Park and arrested him, with Jackson telling them he lit the fire because “I was stuck in there”.

But Justice Kelly said she did not accept that as he was “perfectly capable of getting out by yourself as you did after you lit the fire”.

“It was an act done in anger because you were asked to wait and I see no evidence of remorse,” she said.

After rattling off Jackson’s lengthy list of priors, Justice Kelly said his alcohol addiction had led to him long grassing in Darwin at the time and was “the root cause for the destruction of your life”.

“You started using alcohol when you were about 17 and you often drank a lot,” she said.

“You would drink as much alcohol as possible until there was none left in the house.”

Justice Kelly said Jackson had expressed a desire to return to the long grass upon his release, which would presumably “include drinking too much”, which was “an unfortunate choice”.

“In fact, it is a tragic choice which will probably lead to your dying well before you should,” she said.

Jackson will be eligible for parole in 2025.