A NARACOORTE man has been jailed for more than three years after ice-related hallucinations led to him lighting a bushfire in the South East.
Milner Graham Monks, 31, appeared in the Mount Gambier District Court on Friday to be sentenced for causing a bushfire, which occurred in a paddock at Bool Lagoon.
At around 8am on April 1, Monks used a cigarette lighter to set fire to seven separate areas of knee-high grass on the property.
He lit the fires because he believed he was being chased by people who had “abducted and tortured him”.
“You were spoken to at the scene and you said … that you lit the fires to attract attention and to discourage pursuit,” Judge Peter Brebner said.
“You now concede that you were suffering from methamphetamine induced hallucinations, which led you to believe that you were being chased.”
The court heard Monks tried to create a wall of fire to protect himself from the “non-existent pursuers”.
“Your judgement was plainly compromised by the methamphetamine at all relevant times,” Judge Brebner said.
“However, there is no suggestion that you did not know what you were doing or that you did not know that it was wrong to do it.”
The fires damaged 350,000 square metres of the paddock and destroyed $9000 worth of fencing.
“Fortunately there were no stock in the paddocks concerned, but there were cattle in adjoining paddocks, which might have been put at risk without the prompt action of the owner of the property and the local Country Fire Service,” Judge Brebner said.
In sentencing submissions, the defendant’s lawyer revealed a chaotic upbringing, which led to Monks being in and out of jail.
“There is a degree of institutionalisation,” the defendant’s lawyer said.
“He has struggled to integrate back into the community.”
The court heard Monks had only been out of custody for six months after serving an eight year sentence in Victoria for manslaughter.
“He has been incarcerated for half his life,” the defendant’s lawyer said.
Judge Brebner said he could not have “any real confidence” he would now rehabilitate.
He sentenced Monks to three years, seven months and two weeks imprisonment with a non-parole period of two years and five months.
The sentence was backdated to start on April 1 when he was taken into custody.
