Adrian Bux, 45, will also be placed on a two-year community corrections order after he has served his prison term.
The homeless Shepparton man was sentenced in the Melbourne County Court on Monday, after pleading guilty to two charges of intentionally causing a bushfire and one of committing an indictable offence while on bail.
The two fires were lit on March 10, 2018, and January 2 this year in bushland along the Goulburn River on the outskirts of Shepparton where Bux was living at the time.
In summing up the case, Judge Michael Bourke said Bux had been camping near his brother and was affected by cannabis and alcohol when he lit the 2018 fire using petrol as an accelerant.
The fire burned 300 to 400 sq m of bushland and was put out by firefighters using a water-bombing helicopter.
Judge Bourke said Bux had again been camping with his brother on the river on January 2 this year when an argument broke out.
Bux was intoxicated when he lit a fire with a cigarette lighter in the long grass about 50 m from the campsite.
The fire burned about 150 sq m of bushland.
The fire also occurred on a fire restricted day when the temperature had reached 36°C.
The January fire was also lit while Bux was on bail for charges including possessing methamphetamines and using amphetamines.
Judge Bourke was concerned both fires had been lit in bushland close to Shepparton.
“You committed both offences in anger to scare your brother,” he said.
In handing down his sentence, Judge Bourke said Bux was intellectually disabled and had an IQ of 59.
He also said a neuropsychologist report said Bux had intellectual and brain impairments and Judge Bourke noted that both impairments "played a role" in his offending "independent of the influence of drugs or alcohol".
“His cognitive disabilities likely contributed to his behaviour,” Judge Bourke said.
Judge Bourke said Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative records showed that Bux could have been sniffing petrol when he was as young as six years old.
Bux had spent most of his adult life camping in the bush in the Shepparton area, Judge Bourke said.
He said the combined sentence of prison and a community corrections order was the most appropriate sentence as it provided both punishment and an attempt to rehabilitate Bux.
“I see the community better protected by a program of rehabilitation,” Judge Bourke said.
Bux was sentenced to eight months in prison for one charge of arson, with four months of that to be served cumulatively with the 10 months’ prison he received for the second charge of arson.
The community corrections order was for both charges.
The total 14 months in prison will include the 278 days Bux has spent in pre-sentence custody, meaning he will be free in March next year.
The community corrections order included clauses that Bux must receive assessment, treatment and rehabilitation for drug and alcohol abuse, as well as for his mental health.
He must also attend programs related to his offending.
Judge Bourke also convicted Bux on the charge of committing an indictable offence while on bail, but did not impose any further punishment on that charge.
21°C