Man, 52, poured petrol on former partner in 'drug-induced episode of rage'

A Bendigo man who poured petrol on his former partner and threatened to kill her had been experiencing "a drug-induced episode of rage" and mental health crisis, his lawyer said.

The offender, in his early 50s, faced the Bendigo Magistrates' Court on a suite of charges linked to the February event, including reckless conduct endangering life, reckless conduct endangering serious injury, making a threat to kill, and dangerous driving while pursued by police.

The court heard that on the night of February 15 the man's partner of 17 years received "a high volume" of messages "consistent with the breakdown of a relationship".

These apparently referred to a possible suicide attempt, and contained messages about the pair's son as well as expletive-filled insults and threats of violence, such as "punching [the woman] in [her] fat dog mouth".

"Oh really I feel I must go to my dirt nap," the offender wrote in one text, and in another, "I don't have a problem torching the place either".

Just before 10.30pm he messaged a contact at the woman's block of flats, where he had previously lived, telling them he planned to bash and set fire to his former partner and her friends, and asking if the contact would intervene.

"Hey mate, sorry for the late hour," he said, before stating he was coming over "to bash the three of them then set them on fire".

An hour or so later he contacted another person to ask if there were any cars at the flats, telling them, "I'm coming up there to bash them all and set her on fire."

At 11.23pm the offender had gone to a service station on a pushbike and bought 2.6 litres of petrol.

At 4.55am he arrived at his former partner's home with the red container of fuel and poured it over her and the couch, telling her he was going to set her on fire.

The woman's neighbour, who had been present before he arrived and had briefly left to go home, came back to find the flat locked.

She "could smell petrol as soon as I hit the driveway," she told police, and had thought, "Oh shit!".

"He's locked the door but I had a set of keys he didn't know about," she said.

According to the neighbour, the man had been holding a lit cigarette, which he flicked towards his former partner, as if to set her alight.

"Chances are he wasn't going to do it," she said, but in the volatile situation, it was unclear what would happen.

Defence lawyer Damien Roberts said his client denied having a cigarette inside the flat.

According to the police, the woman had been pleading with her former partner not to hurt her.

He had threatened, "I'm going to burn you and this whole block of flats down," the police said, and had grabbed a tomahawk that was leaning against the wall.

In her statement the neighbour said she had confronted the man and argued with him, then "got [the woman] out of the house, pushed her behind me."

"The lady in the flat opposite left because she was that scared," she said.

"Another lady" had come to help.

The man then grabbed his former partner's car keys and took off in her vehicle, driving to the Kangaroo Flat cemetery, where he sat in the front seat, reportedly "making arrangements to see his son".

When he became aware of the police, who had tracked him there with the help of the air wing, he drove through the cemetery, ignoring officers' requests to stop.

Heading south on the Calder Alternative Highway he had lost control of the car, sliding sideways and colliding with shrubbery then sliding across the highway.

He had abandoned the car at Dunolly, the court heard.

According to police, when he was eventually arrested and interviewed, the man said of his crime, "They were upstairs smoking crack all night so that's why I threw petrol on her, the f***ing idiot," and had shown no remorse for what he had done.

However, according to Mr Roberts, his client had been experiencing deteriorating mental health as a result of his meth use leading up to the "drug-induced episode of rage".

He was "under the delusion that by threatening [his former partner] in the manner he did he would force her to make changes in her own life, which was causing problems to the family," the lawyer said.

His client now understood and was remorseful for his actions, according to Mr Roberts.

The court heard the man had "an extensive history of abuse and trauma", which included finding his father's dead body at the age of six and suffering trauma as a child in an institutional setting.

Magistrate Megan Aumair indicated that if he were to plead guilty to the 12 charges he was facing she would sentence him to six months in jail - 125 days of it already served - and an 18-month community corrections order.

His offending was very serious, the magistrate said, and the man was high risk, so she wanted him to engage with treatment for his drug abuse and mental health issues.

The man accepted the sentence indication, and was ordered to return to court to be sentenced next month.