By Emily Woods
A man has been accused of pouring accelerant over his neighbour and setting her on fire with a blowtorch because he was angered by her playing loud music late at night.
Michael Gauci, 45, faced the first day of a Supreme Court jury trial on Tuesday accused of the attempted murder of his neighbour Sharie Gray and injuring two other neighbours in December 2022.
Investigators at the Werribee South home in 2022 where police allege Michael Gauci attacked his neighbour.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Gauci was allegedly out, and his wife called him several times over the evening, during which neighbours were singing and playing loud music that could be heard over the fence, prosecutors told the jury.
When Gauci returned home after 1am on December 28, he picked up a blowtorch from his kitchen bench, prosecutor Angela Moran told the court.
She alleged Gauci then argued with the neighbours over the fence and told one of the women, Gray, “come out the front to sort it out”.
Moran said Gray went to change and then confronted Gauci and his wife out the front of their houses, with two of Gray’s family members and a friend standing on the nature strip.
The court was told an altercation then ensued between Gray and Gauci’s wife, police allege.
Gauci grabbed a bucket from behind his front fence and then threw about one litre of liquid, which Moran alleged was a “pre-wash accelerant”, onto Gray’s face and upper body.
“After the liquid hit Ms Gray, the accused man – standing one metre away from her – ignites a blowtorch he was holding in his hand, causing it to emit a flame,” Moran told the jury.
“Ms Gray catches fire, her whole head and upper body were on fire.”
She said Gray screamed and moved onto the grass, falling onto the ground, before police and paramedics were called.
Moran said Gray’s injuries were “acute and life-threatening” as 70 per cent of Gray’s body was burned, from her face to her thighs.
Gauci is charged with Gray’s attempted murder, but if the jury cannot find that beyond a reasonable doubt, they could find him guilty of an alternative charge of intentionally causing serious injury in circumstances of gross violence.
He is also facing two charges of reckless conduct causing serious injury and endangering life for injuring two others in the incident.
However, Gauci’s barrister, John Korn, said his client – who has pleaded not guilty to all charges – contested many of the facts put by the prosecution and alleged Gray was the aggressor.
Gauci denied he knew there was anything flammable in the bucket, or that he was holding a blowtorch. He was holding a rifle in the hopes it would “scare them away”, Korn said.
“There was a blowtorch that was discarded, he didn’t pick it up at that time,” Korn told the jury.
He said Gray was “spoiling for a fight” and Gauci just wanted to sort out the issue “civilly” without resorting to violence.
The trial before Justice Andrew Tinney continues.
AAP
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