Karloo: Brett Ian Cameron jailed after setting fire to partner’s Homeswest home while ‘trying to help’

A father of six who set fire to his partner’s Karloo home while two of their daughters were inside was actually trying to “help” his family, a court has been told. Brett Ian Cameron, 43, was jailed for two years and nine months in Geraldton District Court on Monday, after pleading guilty to criminal damage by fire — an offence which carries a maximum life sentence. The court was told at 8.30pm on September 5, Cameron stuffed paper in a kitchen cupboard before dousing it with fuel and setting it alight. He did so in the “misguided” hope his partner of 20 years and kids, who were being harassed by antisocial neighbours, would be relocated from their Aaron Close home, which was owned by the Department of Communities. One of Cameron’s daughters, whose age was not revealed, ran from the house to raise the alarm after seeing him start the blaze. “Another of your daughters within the house noticed smoke coming from three of the bedrooms, and she saw that the curtains in the bedrooms were on fire,” Judge Wendy Gillan said. “She tried to put out the fire by pouring some water on them, but when she got to the third bedroom she saw you leaving the room holding a lighter. “The house went up pretty quickly ... and it was totally destroyed by fire.” Cameron handed himself in when police arrived at the scene. Despite his “very extensive criminal record” — which included violent offences — Judge Gillan said a psychologist’s report indicated Cameron did not appear to have an “entrenched interest in fire” and was unlikely to commit further arson offences. Judge Gillan said key mitigating factors included Cameron’s “complete acceptance of responsibility from the get-go” and his early guilty plea. The court was also told how Cameron, who began drinking heavily and smoking cannabis at a young age, had an “unfortunate” upbringing and was now prescribed medication for post-traumatic stress disorder. “This case ... is a misguided attempt to protect your family from people who were living near them in other Homeswest accommodation and they were using drugs,” Judge Gillan said. “You were acting because you saw that as really being — wrongly — the way out for your family who were living in a pretty poor situation. “The most aggravating factor of this is that, regardless of your reasons for doing it, you did destroy the house that your family were living in, and presumably all their belongings. “Two of your children were in the house when you set the fire, so you really did put them very much at risk ... and it was but for good luck that no one was injured. “It was a deliberate action on your part, even though it was motivated by a desire to help them. But the community does need to be protected from you.” Judge Gillan said imprisonment was the only appropriate sentence. Cameron’s sentence was backdated to September 6 and he will be eligible for parole after having served half of it. He was also slapped with a mandatory lifetime non-molestation violence restraining order protecting his partner, Tammy Cheri Dann, and ordered to repay $22,366.80 restitution to the Department of Communities.