A man who set fire to a south-east Queensland home in a random and “extremely traumatising” arson attack that hospitalised a family has been sentenced to six years’ jail.
Key points:
- As the blaze took hold, the family managed to escape through a kitchen window
- All four were taken to hospital with injuries
- After serving just over two years in custody, Troy Barry Fien was given a six-year head sentence with his parole eligibility set for today.
In late 2020, Troy Barry Fien torched a car that was parked underneath a Brisbane house, while a couple and their two daughters, aged two and four, were asleep upstairs.
As the blaze took hold, the family, who were not known to Fien, managed to escape through a kitchen window, but were injured while trying to flee.
All four were taken to hospital with injuries, including a woman who suffered significant burns that required multiple surgeries.
The fire, which caused a gas leak that accelerated the flames, destroyed the home and spread to neighbouring properties, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage.
Fien was originally charged with four counts of attempted murder, but these offences were dismissed by the prosecution at a committal hearing last year.
The 41-year-old had planned to fight remaining arson, stealing and grievous bodily harm charges at trial but entered a late guilty plea last Friday.
During a sentencing hearing on Monday, the Supreme Court in Brisbane heard after his arrest, Fien confessed to being at the house with his partner and stealing a bike, but did not admit to setting the fire.
The court heard Fien had still not provided any details about the method of ignition, but the prosecution accepted he did not light it in a “deliberate act” and would be sentenced on the basis that his actions were “reckless”.
A victim impact statement written by the woman was read to the court and detailed how “extremely traumatising” the fire was and detailed having to “drag [her] children from their sleep and seeing the terror in their eyes”.
“My physical scars will forever be a reminder of what we went through,” she said.
The woman said she felt “upset and angry” Fien waited until the eleventh hour to admit to the crime.
“It was draining to mentally prepare for [Fien’s] trial while also knowing he could plead guilty at the last minute,” she said.
“I cannot understand and will likely never be given a reason why [Fien] committed these crimes against my family.”
Blaze ‘changed the lives’ of the family
The court heard at the time of the offending Fien had been under the influence of heroin and had a “life-long” addiction to drugs, which he told a prison psychiatrist had stemmed from a traumatic incident during primary school.
Fien also had a lengthy criminal history and had been handed more than 20 previous jail sentences mostly for property and theft offences, the court heard.
Chief Judge Brian Devereaux said it was an “unusual example” of arson due to the lack of detail about how the fire started, but nevertheless, his actions had “changed the lives” of the family.
“It must have been terrifying for them,” he said.
Chief Judge Devereaux said Fien’s plea had shown “an acceptance in responsibility to what you’ve done” and an apology letter submitted to the court, but not read out, had demonstrated he had “great remorse”.
After serving just over two years in custody, Fien was given a six-year head sentence with his parole eligibility set for today.