Kesoni George Rabo Uluiviti pleads guilty to revenge arson

A Qld man was so angry after he was kicked out of the family home he formed a fiery plan for retribution. Here’s what he did.

Kesoni George Rabo Uluiviti leaves court after pleading guilty to a revenge arson. Picture: Janessa Ekert

A Mackay man angry after he was kicked out of the family home formed a revenge plot to set fire to a shed on the property his parents were renting causing a $40,000 plus damage bill.

But his retribution, which was captured on CCTV, also destroyed his brother’s car – he told police was not his intention.

Kesoni George Rabo Uluiviti had gotten into a fight with his father and was told to leave the family home, a rented property in Mackay.

But he crept back in the early hours and set fire to a shed at the address.

Mackay District Court heard about 4am on February 11, 2022 Uluiviti’s mother had been getting ready for work when she saw the shed was on fire and rang triple-0.

Kesoni George Rabo Uluiviti leaves court after pleading guilty to a revenge arson. Picture: Janessa Ekert

The shed containing family belongings was destroyed and the fire spread to Uluiviti’s brother’s car parked nearby.

The court heard it was going to cost the landlords $40,350 to replace the shed, which was not insured.

Uluiviti admitted his offending to police, telling officers he had thrown a cigarette into the shed intending to burn it down but did not intend to damage the car.

“(You) did it as a form of payback to your father as you were angry with him,” Judge Jennifer Rosengren said.

The court heard Uluiviti had a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and was having hallucinations at the time of the offending, as well as consuming meth and marijuana.

Judge Rosengren accepted a medical report that stated Uluiviti had appeared to be deprived of capacity to control his actions at the time but understood what he was doing.

Uluiviti pleaded guilty to arson and endangering particular property by fire.

The court heard he spent 440 days in presentence custody before he was granted bail.

He was jailed for 21 months with immediate parole release.

Originally published as Kesoni George Rabo Uluiviti pleads guilty to revenge arson