Couple in debt set fire to Linwood home

Press, 27 April 1989, Page 26

Couple in debt set fire to Linwood home

A young couple, now living apart, had bought a home with very little money and when they got behind in . mortgage payments they set fire to the property to get the insurance money, Mr Justice Hardie Boys was told in the High Court yesterday. Craig Edward Jewell, aged 26, unemployed, and Janette Dawn Jewell, aged 24, a laundry assistant, were both put op supervision for 18 months on a charge of wilfully setting fire to a house in Catherine Street, Linwood, on February 20. In addition Craig Jewell, who had lit the fire, was sentenced to three months periodic detention. The couple had been advised that they did not have sufficient funds to buy the property, but went ahead. A psychiatrist who examined the couple said he was amazed that they were able to obtain

the house with so little money. At 12.10 p.m. on February 20 the Fire Service was called ,to a fire in a house in Catherine Street, the police statement said. Because of the suspicious nature of the fire, the police were called. When Craig Jewell was interviewed he admitted that he had lit the fire. He said that he had arranged the place to look as though an offender had broken into the house and set the blaze.

He said he had poured petrol on the floor and then set it alight. He went to a nearby shop and arranged for the brigade to be called. The fire had gone out before the firemen arrived. The carpet was scorched and there was extensive smoke damage, but the house was not structurally damaged. Jewell said he had lost his

job as a cleaner and he and his wife were finding it hard to pay the mortgage, the police statement said.

If the plan had succeeded, there would have been yet another substantial fraud on an insurance company, his Honour said. The effect on the public, who pay insurance premiums, was substantial. The Courts regarded arson as serious and usually substantial penalties were imposed. Apart from the Fire Service, the only losers had been the Jewells. The offence was the despairing culmination of a pathetic history of inadequacy and over-commit-ment.

From the reports it was obvious that Craig Jewell was incapable of the commitment that buying his own home required. His ability to handle life’s ordinary problems with-

out substantial support from others was quite limited. It appeared that Janette Jewell could not bring herself to share her worries with others. She had tried to carry the burden alone but she did not have either the financial means or the resources within herself to do that. Both were in need of considerable help which he hoped would save the marriage and give them an ability to handle financial affairs. “I have no doubt you have both profited from this experience in the sense that you have been able to get your financial affairs under control, and that you can now look forward to a life free from the worry that has tormented you in the past,” his Honour said. They were both ordered to take counselling under the direction of the probation officer.