A man who lit several fires in bushland at a popular Cobram tourist spot and threatened to kill a neighbour and burn their house down when they spotted him has been sentenced in court.
John Binotto, 45, from Cobram, pleaded guilty in the County Court to recklessly causing a bushfire, making threats to kill and making threats to damage property.
Binotto lit nine fires in bushland at Thompson’s Beach in Cobram on July 22 last year.
Binotto’s neighbours and two other people went to Thompson’s Beach at about 9.30pm and saw two lots of flames in the bush and Binotto walking away from the flames and towards their car.
They called 000 and as they drove away, saw more fires, with flames rising three to five metres up a tree in one instance.
The court was told Binotto then ran towards their car yelling “I’m going to kill you, I’m going to burn your house down”.
At the time of making the threats, Binotto was “holding an object that was 50 to 60cm long in one hand and waving it towards their car”.
He was also seen by two other people in the area of the fires after they were lit.
A total of nine fires were lit in the bushland, with each of them 1sqm or less in size.
In sentencing Binotto, Judge John Kelly said Binotto was alcohol-affected at the time.
He also said he accepted that the risk of the fire spreading was low, as it was winter, the vegetation was green and Binotto did not use an accelerant.
Judge Kelly also referenced a childhood of “social disadvantage” where Binotto witnessed “appalling violence” against his mother.
Binotto started drinking alcohol and using cannabis when he was 13 or 14 years old, and started using methamphetamines when he was in his 20s.
He also had bipolar disorder and persistent depressive disorder, and had auditory hallucinations.
The court was told also there had been problems with some of Binotto’s neighbours harassing him.
Judge Kelly spoke of Binotto’s “extensive criminal history”, which went back to 1995.
At the time he lit the fires, he had been on a community corrections order for five months for charges that included making a threat to kill.
The court was told he had been placed on community corrections orders 11 times before, and had breached the past five of them.
Binotto was sentenced to nine months in prison – with all the time considered as time already served in pre-sentence detention.
Binotto was also placed on an 18-month community corrections order, with 100 hours of community work.
The judge ruled up to 50 hours of treatment and rehabilitation for drug abuse, as well mental health treatment, including psychological and neuropsychological treatment, could be counted towards the community work hours.