A man sentenced to nine years’ jail for arson, fraud and perjury, after setting fire to his own St Albans pizza restaurant, has had his bid to appeal against his sentence refused.
Derek McPadden was the owner and operator of the St Albans Pizza and Pasta Restaurant when, in August, 2013, he teamed up with an accomplice to set fire to the restaurant and claim more than $700,000 in insurance
money.
The court heard McPadden and his accomplice, referred to as HB, placed two cans of petrol inside the restaurant the night before the fire. McPadden dropped HB at the back of the restaurant at 5am on August 11 and then drove further up the road to wait.
HB poured one can of petrol around the premises, inadvertently spilling some on his pants before setting fire to the fuel and, in turn, his pants.
While running around the restaurant in a panic, he set fire to the rest of the petrol and realised that the rear door he had entered from had closed and locked automatically.
While he tried to break down the front door, he threw his shirt, which had also caught fire, on to some nearby petrol-covered electrical equipment, causing an explosion that threw him back several metres.
HB eventually escaped by breaking a front window. Despite severe burns, he ran up the street to rendezvous with McPadden, but left behind biological material, including flesh from his thumb with a complete thumbprint.
The court heard that occupants of three residential units above the restaurant were awoken by the explosion and were able to escape unharmed.
McPadden made an insurance claim the next day, claiming $140,000 in contents insurance, and $572,000 for business interruption and loss of wages.
HB spent the next day at a friend’s house before being taken to the Alfred hospital, where he was placed in an induced coma with life-threatening injuries.
Police were able to use the biological evidence from the scene to arrest HB when he had recovered. He made a full confession, agreeing to help police by introducing an undercover police officer to McPadden, who had provided police with a statement of his movements on the night of the fire.
The undercover officer recorded several conversations with McPadden in which he discussed his involvement in the fire.
When he was arrested on February 6, 2014, he denied all allegations.
McPadden was sentenced in April, 2017, to nine years’ prison, but sought leave to appeal the length of the sentence.
Supreme Court Justices Phillip Priest, Peter Kidd and Kim Hargrave said they would not grant him leave to appeal and that nine years could be considered a light sentence under the circumstances.
“We are of the view that the total effective sentence is wholly appropriate when regard is had to the totality of the applicant’s offending,” they said.
