"He might develop homicidal tendencies"

Damien Linnane appeared before Armidale Local Court on Monday when he was to be sentenced for several charges, including being armed with intent to commit an indictable offence and maliciously damaging property by fire.

He pleaded guilty to all charges in July.

 In a series of targeted incidents, Linnane torched a home on Ash Tree Drive on November 29 last year.

He also slashed a car’s tyres on two separate occasions in February and March and threatened a man with a replica firearm at a Marsh Street hotel on March 27. 

The Ash Tree Drive house fire, which destroyed the $310,000 home, was previously thought to be accidental until police received a tip-off in June. 

The 29-year-old was supported in court by a group of family and friends as Magistrate Karen Stafford heard Linnane’s defence argue he was unsuitable for a custodial jail sentence. 

Solicitor Peter Kemp said his client had high-functioning autism and experienced strong desires to commit homicide before the offences.

 Mr Kemp said Linnane should remain in the community so he could receive counselling and prevent future actions, asking for an intensive corrections order. 

“My client is a highly intelligent person,” Mr Kemp said.

“He might develop homicidal tendencies further while in custody.”

 Police prosecutor Cheryl Hall opposed Linnane being released into the community after his sentencing, citing a pre-sentence report which found he showed “no remorse for his actions”. 

“We would be seeking a full-time custodial sentence,” she said.

 “[The] victims have been traumatised by the events. 

“It is such an extreme matter.” 

While Mr Kemp said his client had been considering killing someone, he had not had a “direct intention to commit a homicide” and had only planned to commit the Ash Tree Drive arson to “set fire and burn the evidence”. 

“He was not charged with attempted murder,” Mr Kemp said. 

Magistrate Stafford said she had to balance the risk Linnane posed to the public with any prospect he had of rehabilitation. 

“It is an extremely serious charge,” she said.

 “[The defendant was] taking the law into his own hands ... because of something he was told by his former partner.” 

Magistrate Stafford said despite Linnane appearing to be “a man completely without remorse”, it was “directly related to his high functioning autism”. 

She ordered the defendant undergo an assessment to see whether he was suitable for an intensive corrections order instead of imprisonment. 

The matter will return to Armidale Local Court for sentencing in October.