A woman who set fire to her ex-boyfriend's car and caused more than $100,000 damage to his family's home after he dumped her via text message two months into their relationship has been sent to prison.
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Chloe Leh Matthew, 22, was ordered to repay the man thousands of dollars after his "pride and joy" Subaru WRX went up in flames in the revenge attack days after he ended their brief fling in August 2015.
Matthew had been drinking with friends at a Civic bar before they drove her to the house on Symers Street in Kambah and she snuck into the garage in the early hours of September 2.
She then splashed methylated spirits around his car before setting it alight.
The flames destroyed the car and garage and spread to the main roof of the house before it was put out. Her ex-boyfriend's father suffered significant burns to his feet in the blaze.
Matthew sent incriminating text messages to a friend the next morning, saying she'd used the methylated spirits to start the fire.
In another text message, she'd tried to establish a false alibi.
She was arrested in March 2016 and eventually pleaded guilty to two charges arising from the fire and damaged property in the ACT Supreme Court.
In sentencing Matthew on Tuesday, Justice David Mossop said her crimes were committed out of revenge in a bid to assuage her unhappiness at the couple's break-up.
He said the offences involved some premeditation and intent to cause damage. They were also committed at a time when there would likely have been people inside the home.
The court heard Matthew's ex-boyfriend suffered financial and emotional loss as a result of the car - which he described as his "pride and joy" - being destroyed and he now struggled to trust other people.
His father couldn't live at the property for a significant period of time and had lost tools and equipment in the fire.
Justice Mossop noted Matthew had a history of "unsatisfactory" relationships and mental health problems, but said she had not accepted full responsibility for her offending.
He sentenced Matthew to 14 months imprisonment for each offence, to be served concurrently and backdated to take into account more than 50 days previously spent in custody.
That prison sentence will be fully suspended from late March upon Matthew entering into a good behaviour order.
Justice Mossop also ordered Matthew repay her ex-boyfriend $6500 for the car and more than $8000 to his father and a boarder at the house for damaged property.
Reparations for $107,400 damage caused to the main house were not pursued.
Matthew cried as the sentence was handed down and she was led from the courtroom in handcuffs.
