A man who set his former girlfriend on fire has been sentenced to 22 years in jail

A man who told his former girlfriend that if she left him he “would find and kill her” will remain behind bars for a very long time after being sentenced for attempted murder. DETAILS >>

A WOMAN who tearfully gave evidence of her “extremely volatile” relationship and the night she ran screaming from a garage in flames has finally found justice.

Justice Michael Brett sentenced Matthew John Davey on Friday in Hobart over attempted murder, persistent family violence, trafficking in methylamphetamine and unlawful trafficking in firearms.

Davey pleaded guilty on Thursday to persistent family violence against the woman but had previously pleaded not guilty to setting her on fire and attempting to kill her.

He was found guilty by a jury in November of attempted murder.

Davey pleaded guilty to the firearm and ice trafficking charges.

Matthew John Davey with his former partner. Picture: Supplied

Justice Brett said the 39-year-old Risdon Prison inmate had entered a relationship with the victim in November 2015 which “quickly became toxic and extremely volatile”.

Justice Brett said Davey “engaged in a continuous and marked pattern of coercive control” over the 24-year-old woman, monitoring her electronically and threatening to burn her or her property.

“On a number of occasions you made it clear to her that if she ever left you, you would find and kill her,” he said.

“You described to her the very specific ways that you would do this.”

Justice Brett said evidence of the abusive relationship came in the form of tapped phone conversations, recordings, CCTV and witness statements.

In February 2016, Davey slapped her on the face.

The following month, a witness saw Davey strike her and grab her by the hair and neck.

Justice Brett said the violence worsened with the man biting hair from her head and poking her eye.

“You had your cousin search her bag because of your belief she may have been recording you,” the judge said.

“She wasn’t recording you, but the police were.”

Tasmania Police had been investigating Davey throughOperation Oracleand found he had sold ice to individuals and dealers in a significant trafficking operation.

In May 2016, on the night he accused her of recording him, she fled barefoot through paddocks wearing only her underwear and a top.

Davey was arrested soon after and went to prison for six months.

“Before you were released from prison she also wrote and hid the letter which was placed in evidence … which expresses fear for her life upon your release from prison,” Justice Brett said.

Justice Brett said the woman, like so many others trapped in abusive relationships, was confused. She feared for her life, but she hoped Davey would change and discussed wedding plans with him.

But the festering abuse and paranoia only worsened when Davey was released from Risdon Prison in November 2016.

Davey was sentenced in the Supreme Court in Hobart. Picture: Richard Jupe/NCA NewsWire.

The woman had threatened to leave Davey many times, but on April 24, 2017, Justice Brett said she had made up her mind.

“Your response was to spit in her face, throw a soft drink can at her,” Justice Brett said.

Davey left to buy drugs after arguing with the woman, and the woman drove him to his father’s home in Chigwell.

“The complainant again told you that she wanted to end the relationship, begged you to let her go and told you she did not love you anymore,” Justice Brett said.

“Your response was to tell her that the relationship was not over and would only be over when you said it was.”

Justice Brett said the pair fought in a shed on Davey’s father’s property, “rolling around on the ground and hitting each other” before the man threw accelerant from a fuel can onto her.

His defence counsel had claimed during the trial the woman threw fuel on herself, picking up a heavier container nearby, screwing off the cap and shaking it up, but the judge did not accept this version of events.

“She would have reached for the nearest and most accessible (container),” he said.

The woman, drenched in fuel, watched as Davey attempted to light the carpet – an action Justice Brett said was another demonstration of power and coercive control.

He wanted her to wash off the accelerant inside his father’s home, but she insisted on cleaning up at her mum’s house and moved to walk past Davey out of the shed.

The court heard that Davey flicked a cigarette lighter onto her and “she was immediately engulfed in flames”.

The woman ran from the shed and Davey quickly acted to extinguish the fire, holding a hose over her while they waited for an ambulance.

The woman endured “terror and pain” during and after the incident and entered an induced coma.

“The risk of death was high for at least a month,” Justice Brett said.

The woman’s recovery from the burns to 68 per cent of her body was slow, and she continues to suffer disfigurement and temperature regulation problems.

“The complainant will have significant lifelong consequences as a result of these injuries,” Justice Brett said.

“The future of this young woman has been irrevocably changed by your selfish and arrogant act.

“The lack of premeditation has little impact on your moral culpability.

“There was no occasion or reason for premeditation because up (until) this point the complainant had always given into the pressure that you exerted.”

Justice Brett outlined the act as “particularly cruel” and symptomatic of the broader issue of violence against women.

The court heard Davey has four children and had suffered “significant behavioural problems” from a young age, including an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder diagnosis at 14.

Justice Brett said he came from a law abiding family but had a lengthy criminal history of his own, including assaulting a police officer in 2002 and brutally interrogating a woman in 2015, which resulted in the charge of committing an unlawful act intended to cause bodily harm.

Justice Brett activated Davey’s suspended prison sentence of three months and convicted the man on each count.

For attempted murder and violence, Justice Brett sentenced Davey to 18 years imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 12 years.

For trafficking drugs and firearms, he was sentenced to four years behind bars and would have to serve half that sentence before being eligible for parole.

Overall, Davey was sentenced to 22 years in jail, with a non-parole period of 14 years and three months, backdated to January 23, 2019.

Identity of attempted murderer revealed

A PREVIOUSLY unnamed man who attempted to murder his former girlfriend by setting her on fire has pleaded guilty to persistent family violence.

The man appeared in the Supreme Court in Hobart on Thursday on charges of attempted murder, persistent family violence, trafficking firearms and trafficking a controlled substance.

Davey had previously pleaded guilty to the firearm and drug charges, but not guilty to attempted murder.

But after a nearly seven-week trial, the jury found him guilty by majority verdict on November 18 of flicking the lighter that inflicted burns to 68 per cent of his former partner’s body.

The identities of the accused and victim had been suppressed from being published by the media during the trial.

Matthew John Davey with his former partner. Picture: Supplied

The man has since been found guilty on each charge, meaning he can legally be named as 39-year-old Risdon Prison inmate Matthew John Davey.

On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to the persistent family violence charge, which related to abuse against his 24-year-old former partner, who he set on fire in his father’s Chigwell shed on April 24, 2017.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Linda Mason said the persistent family violence offending occurred between February 2016 and April 2017, culminating in the attempted murder.

“At the beginning of the relationship, it was a happy one,” Ms Mason said.

“He became controlling, often induced by his use of methamphetamine.”

Matthew John Davey with his ex-partner. Picture: Supplied.

The tension snowballed with “frequent and lengthy arguments” where Davey would call her names such as “b..ch” and “scum”.

Ms Mason said Davey regularly told his girlfriend he would kill her if she was unfaithful or left him.

He threatened to hang her and frame it as a suicide.

On one occasion he slapped the victim’s face and she fell to the ground.

The court heard Davey messaged the woman using another man’s Facebook account, sending questions such as “remember the time we slept together?” in an attempt to trick her into admitting infidelity.

Defence lawyer Fabiano Cangelosi said he would need time to take instructions from Davey before making further submissions.

Justice Michael Brett adjourned the matter to reappear in the Supreme Court on Friday, where he intended to sentence Davey on all charges.

Man who set ex-girlfriend on fire calls for shorter sentence

December 7, 2021

A 39-year-old man is seeking a lighter sentence for attempting to murder his ex-girlfriend by setting fire to her, citing strict prison conditions.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in the Supreme Court of Tasmania in Hobart on Tuesday for a sentencing hearing.

Defence counsel Fabiano Cangelosi said the man, who has been in custody since the attempted murder in April 2017, had been moved between mainstream and confined prison settings some 40 times.

“The prison may have had a reason for doing things but it isn’t apparent whether it was even (his) fault,” Mr Cangelosi said.

Supreme Court of Tasmania, Hobart. Picture: Richard Jupe, NCA NewsWire.

“In the last seven days he’s had one hour out of his cell and one phone call made.”

Mr Cangelosi said to Justice Michael Brett on these grounds there was “less of a need for a sentence that incarcerates him for longer”.

Justice Brett said it appeared the man believed the prison workers’ perception of his behavioural problems “might not always be correct or communicated to him”.

But prosecutor Linda Mason said the assistant director of the prison had written “lengthy correspondence” to the man to explain why he was being kept in the Tamar Unit – a section within maximum security with higher restrictions.

“The decision to house (him) in the Tamar Unit during various times of his period of incarceration (has) been as a consequence of his behaviour,” Ms Mason said.

A man has been found guilty of attempting to murder his ex-partner by flicking the lighter which inflicted burns to 68 per cent of her body. Photo: Supplied.

She said he had been aggressive and made threats to staff, had communicated in code to assist bringing drugs into the prison, and had goaded prisoners into assaulting other inmates.

Ms Mason said the Tamar Unit allowed access to television, a canteen and exercise yard.

“With improvements in his behaviour it is intended to move him back into a more relaxed environment, but that that is up to him,” Ms Mason said.

Justice Brett said the submissions from Mr Cangelosi could have a general, but not significant impact on lessening the man’s sentence.

Justice Brett adjourned the matter and will sentence the man this Thursday.

The man had previously pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, but after a nearly seven-week trial the jury found him guilty by majority verdict of flicking the lighter which inflicted burns to 68 per cent of his ex-partner’s body.