'Angry' grandmother torched home after being left out of will, court hears

A northern Tasmanian woman who burnt down her home of almost four decades has been handed a suspended prison term. Eileen Joyce Davey, 69, was sentenced in the Supreme Court in Launceston on Tuesday after pleading guilty to one count of arson earlier this year. The court heard that in October 2024, she set fire to a property on Montana Road near Deloraine, after being issued a vacate notice. "Before finally leaving, when everyone else had left, you lit the fire," said Justice Robert Pearce. "You said you were angry … if you cannot live there, nobody else would because you would burn it down." The court heard Davey, now of Ravenswood, was motivated by a family breakdown. The mother of four had lived in the property with her husband Alan Walker for 38 years. However, in 2023 Mr Walker became ill and moved in with Davey's daughter-in-law. After he died in December 2023, Davey was told that the home she had lived in for almost 40 years had been left to her daughter-in-law. Justice Pearce said Davey's feelings of "betrayal" were "easy to understand". "He did not make you a beneficiary of his will," he said. The court heard the property was "largely destroyed" in the blaze. Justice Pearce considered Davey's early guilty plea, and the fact she had come from "considerable hardship". He said her poor level of education contributed to her inability to navigate the circumstances she faced. "You did not seek advice or challenge Mr Walker's failure to provide for you," Justice Pearce said. "Your illiteracy and lack of knowledge contributed to that situation." The court heard Davey carried several chronic health problems and was now the primary carer of one of her grandchildren. "I have concluded I should adopt a merciful approach," Justice Pearce said.Her two-year prison sentence was wholly suspended for 18 months. A compensation order of $270,000 was also made, although Justice Pearce acknowledged there was "little prospect" of Davey paying the amount.