Man sets old friend-turned-foe’s car on fire

Allegations, gossip and bad blood between old friends ended in a car being set ablaze in the close-knit Otago Peninsula community.

Manu John Douglas, 44, and the victim of his arson had known each other a long time before they had a falling out last year.

The rising tensions were further inflamed when Douglas thought his old friend was spreading rumours about him, the Dunedin District Court heard on Thursday.

In October last year, when Douglas drove past his brother’s Portobello house and saw the familiar blue Toyota belonging to the victim parked in the driveway, he saw red.

The defendant approached the car and, using a nearby object, smashed the windows and windscreen before fleeing, the court heard.

On discovering the state of his vehicle, the friend-turned-foe gathered some of his belongings before borrowing another car to drive home.

A couple of days later, the two men saw each other in the Portobello township and the victim of vandalism gave his aggressor the middle finger.

This prompted Douglas to return to his brother’s address, where the damaged car was still parked, to commit his final punishing act.

The Toyota had some bedding and a foam mattress in the boot as the owner often took the car camping.

The defendant opened the boot, lit the bedding and mattress and waited until he saw black smoke, the police summary said.

He then moved his father’s car, which was parked next to the burning vehicle, awayfrom the fire before fleeing again.

Counsel Meg Scally said her client had a head injury which should allow for some discount in sentencing on the chargesof intentional damage and arson.

Judge David Robinson disagreed however, saying the psychological assessment before him showed the defendant had scored average or higher in his executive function tests.

He said there was no connection between her client’s head injury and impulse control.

"Given the nature of the offending, what is remarkable is you are not previously before the court," Judge Robinson said.

"You are entitled for credit for that. You are also allowed credit for remorse."

Ms Scally said her client regretted his impulsive decisions and was sorry.

Douglas was sentenced to six months’ home detention, 100 hours’ community work and ordered to pay $4360 for the car.

"We recognise that arson is always a serious offence," the judge said.