Jordan Spencer, 34, of Shepparton, pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury in circumstances of gross violence in the Supreme Court.
Spencer threw a bowl of petrol on a 20-year-old woman’s head, and used a jet lighter to set her alight outside her Shepparton home on January 15, 2024.
The victim was engulfed in flames for 64 seconds and was flown to hospital in Melbourne with significant burns to 30 per cent of her body.
She spent three and a half months in an induced coma and has since had multiple surgeries.
Spencer’s defence barrister James McQuillan told the court a bowl of petrol Spencer threw over the victim was sitting by the front door because her partner told her to use it and a lighter to defend herself if anyone caused trouble.
Justice Andrew Tinney rejected this version, saying he found it “implausible”.
Prosecutor John Dickie told the court the victim was “volatile and upset” when she first arrived at Spencer’s home, looking for Spencer’s partner whom she’d met earlier that day, wanting to know where her e-scooter was.
The court heard she threw a rubbish bin at the front door, and later threw a rock and a brick at a window.
The court heard from a psychologist who had interviewed Spencer.
Psychologist Courtney Steffens told the court Spencer had been suffering from complex post-traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder.
Mr Dickie and Mr McQuillan questioned Ms Steffens about the degree of fear and anger that Spencer had exhibited on the day of the incident.
She spent about four hours in the witness box.
Mr McQuillan told the court fear played a primary role in why his client acted the way she did.
Justice Tinney rejected that Spencer had acted out of fear, saying the victim was backing away when Spencer threw the fuel on her and set her alight.
He also drew attention to the statements recorded by Spencer and directed at the victim in which she said “you come here, you f****** whore” and “come in, the door is open. I will give you what you deserve” just before the attack.
Mr McQuillan told the court Spencer had experienced a “deprived, dysfunctional and disadvantaged childhood”, witnessing domestic violence against her mother, who also asked her to leave home at 14 years old.
She had also had a difficult time in relationships as an adult.
In summing up the prosecution case, Mr Dickie said Spencer was “enraged”, and not fearful, when she set fire to the victim, saying she could have stayed in her house.
He said Spencer had also “persisted in her attempts” to start the lighter after it did not start the first time.
“It’s a very serious example of a very serious offence,” Mr Dickie said.
“Without the treatment provided, (the victim) would not have survived.”
He also spoke about the “indescribable pain” the victim must have felt at the time, as well as the impact her injuries would continue to have on the rest of her life.
Spencer will be sentenced at a later date, with it still undecided whether the sentence will be handed down in the Supreme Court in Shepparton or Melbourne.
