A jail inmate who set his cell on fire to protest against what he saw as others controlling his life, including persecution via mind control, has been released onto a suspended jail term due to his mental health issues.
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Julian Leslie Yeaman appeared via video link in the ACT Supreme Court on Thursday when he was handed that 12-month term with a six-month good behaviour order attached.
He had pleaded not guilty on the ground of mental impairment and after a judge-alone trial, Chief Justice Helen Murrell in October found him guilty of an act of arson.
Court documents state that Yeaman, 38, was a detainee at the Alexander Maconochie Centre in October 2019 when he used a lighter to ignite a cardboard box containing linen and a mattress.
The fire triggered a code red among corrections officers who had to extinguish it before evacuating other detainees.
Yeaman, later in a clinical room, said he was "willing to go out with a bang" and asserted that he was "fit to plea".
A psychiatrist's report stated there was evidence Yeaman had "serious disorder thought form, persecutory and grandiose delusions".
During her sentencing remarks, Chief Justice Murrell said a suspended term was appropriate because "it is plain to me that it would be very undesirable for the offender to be housed in the AMC".
"Any such placement may well result in antisocial behaviour of the type for which I'm sentencing him today," she said.
The judge also said Yeaman had already served a lengthy period in pre-sentence custody and that deterring others from committing similar offending was limited due to his mental health issues.
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When she found him guilty, she said while Yeaman was suffering from mental impairment and his ability to control his impulses were significantly reduced, he was still able to control his behaviour generally.
She said the impairment meant he had difficulty rather than him not being able to control his conduct.
The defendant also faced the charge of intentionally inflict grievous bodily harm from a separate incident in which he was found not guilty.
Justice Murrell ordered he submit to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal for a mental health assessment for that charge.
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