Appeal denied for woman who set friend on fire at drunken party

Corbie Jean Walpole, who was jailed for seven years after setting her friend on fire at a party, has lost her appeal for a shorter jail term. Walpole poured fuel on her friend Jake Loader and used a lighter to set him alight at a party in Howlong, New South Wales. The appeal judges found that her depressive disorder did not significantly reduce her moral culpability and her sentence would remain unchanged. A woman who doused her friend in petrol and set him alight during a night of drinking and drug-taking has lost her appeal to have her jail sentence reduced. Corbie Jean Walpole, 25, was jailed for seven and a half years for setting her friend Jake Loader on fire at a party at Howlong, New South Wales, in January 2024. Mr Loader suffered third-degree burns to 60 per cent of his body and was in an induced coma for more than a week. Walpole had been drinking substantially and had taken 0.33 grams of cocaine before her offending, court documents stated. In denying an appeal of her sentence, the NSW Criminal Court of Appeal said Walpole's actions were "wholly disproportionate" and required "strong denunciation". Walpole's lawyer Philipp Boncardo told the court that she had not received "procedural fairness" as the court had not told her that a psychologist's opinion on the link between her depressive disorder and her offending would be rejected. Mental impairment at time of offending The appeal was before Justices Julie Ward, Richard Cavanagh and Richard Weinstein. A report from forensic psychologist Roger Blake said that Walpole was suffering from "mental impairment" at the time of offending and there was "a causal connection between this diagnosis and the commission of the offence". Dr Blake also found that Walpole had suffered PTSD as a result of her offending and imprisonment "would be highly adverse" and "more burdensome" on her than on an offender without those mental health issues. Walpole's lawyer argued that causal nexus between her depressive disorder and the offending diminished her moral culpability and her resulting PTSD could be considered as "extra-curial punishment". The Court of Appeal accepted that there was a denial of procedural fairness and was required to determine whether the link between Walpole's offending and her depressive disorder reduced her moral culpability. The appeal judges found Walpole's offence was a deliberate and unprovoked act of violence and that the antagonism between Walpole and her friend did not provide any excuse or explanation for what occurred. "The applicant's [Walpole] response was, on any view, wholly disproportionate to the comments made by the victim," they said. "In the present case, accepting that the applicant's depressive condition had a part to play in causing the offending, we are not persuaded that this ameliorates or reduces the applicant's moral culpability to any great extent. "The offending conduct requires strong denunciation and weight must be given to general deterrence." Walpole will be eligible for parole in November 2029.