Volunteer firefighter Louis George Taylor-Lawdorn sentenced for lighting blazes at Rossarden

A man who had a fixation with fire has been charged with three counts of arson. Two of the fires he lit occurred on the same night.

A volunteer firefighter has been sentenced after deliberately lighting blazes he then helped to put out. Firefighter generic image.

A volunteer firefighter who deliberately lit blazes and then helped fight them has been sentenced to a year-long home detention order.

Louis George Taylor-Lawdorn was sentenced over three counts each of arson and burglary for a series of incidents at Rossarden.

On October 21, 2021, Taylor-Lawdorn set fire to a number of buildings at 319 Storys Creek Road and, later that night, also lit a blaze at the unoccupied Van Diemen Paving Factory at Lee Street.

A month later, on November 14, he deliberately lit another fire at an address opposite the caravan he was living in with his mother at 6 Schell Street at Rossarden.

Taylor-Lawdorn told his mother to call triple-0 while he changed into his Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) uniform.

The volunteer firefighter assisted TFS crews in putting out the blaze.

The former tin mining township of Rossarden, Tasmania. Picture: Amber Wilson

During sentencing at the Supreme Court in Burnie, Justice Tamara Jago said Taylor-Lawdorn had a dysfunctional family and a chaotic upbringing.

“Because of his upbringing, the defendant’s education was very disrupted,” Justice Jago said.

“It also appears he suffered from ADHD during his childhood and adolescent years, although it was undiagnosed and not identified and treated until the defendant was 20.”

However, Justice Jago said that since his offending, he had sought assistance for his mental health difficulties, was on medication for ADHD, was in a stable romantic relationship, had a child and had established his own window-cleaning business.

A psychiatric assessment of Taylor-Lawdorn found that he had been admitted to psychiatric units in the past due to fire-lighting urges and suicidal tendencies.

“The defendant is now engaged with medical professionals and is medicated in respect to his mental health,” Justice Jago said.

“He is currently stable, he’s in a supportive relationship, and he is engaged in employment. He is still a young person.

“Whilst his crimes are obviously very serious, rehabilitation should, to my mind, be given some emphasis in the sentencing exercise.

“I am of the view that a home detention order is an appropriate sentencing response.”