A man who thought his computer was sending him messages has been found not guilty of arson after setting fire to his father’s Altona Meadows home in January last year.
The 35-year-old was released from psychiatric care after being found not guilty in the County Court because of mental impairment.
The court heard the man punched holes in the walls of his father’s home before using petrol to set it alight.
He then called triple-0 to report the fire, took the family’s pet dog and left.
After firefighters extinguished the blaze, the man walked back to the house and told police he had a mental illness which caused him to light the fire.
He told them he had called triple-0 because he did not want his neighbours or their houses harmed.
In a report prepared for the court, consultant psychiatrist Dr Lester A. Walton said the defendant thought he was receiving messages from his computer and that he could understand what the computer was thinking. At the time he was committed to moving out and the messages were telling him the opposite, causing him to become “really angry, like I was fighting someone”.
County Court judge Gabriele Cannon granted the man an unconditional release, saying he was now receiving appropriate treatment and was a low risk of re-offending.
Goya Dmytryshchak
