A man who deliberately set fire to a taxi last year has been described in court as “anti-social”.
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David Brian Langford, 48, appeared in the Launceston Supreme Court on Thursday after a jury previously found him guilty of unlawfully setting fire to private property.
The court heard Langford was a taxi driver at the time of his offending and had pulled into a service station at Summerhill in February, 2016.
He set fire to another taxi that had been parked at the station overnight – the car was valued at more than $24,000.
He was later identified through CCTV footage.
Defence laywer Mark Doyle told the court on Thursday that his client had a mild intellectual impairment, a number of physical disabilities and lived with mental health difficulties.
The court also heard Langford had experienced a challenging childhood, having been abused by an adult family member and had only just recently sought counselling.
Mr Doyle said the “tragic events” in Langford’s life had led to his offending.
Since the incident, Mr Doyle said Langford had been unable to continue driving taxis, had become “financially destitute” and was being cared for by his mother.
Mr Doyle told Justice Robert Pearce his client would be “particularly vulnerable” if he were to be sent to prison due to his physical and mental issues.
He pushed for a wholly suspended sentence.
Justice Pearce said Langford had shown “no remorse” and although he was described as having a mild intellectual impairment, he had been found to have no major mental illness.
His reason for setting fire to the car “remains unknown”, Justice Pearce said.
Langford’s only relevant prior matter was a wholly suspended sentence in 1986 after he set fire to a home.
Justice Pearce convicted and sentenced him to 10 months in prison, wholly suspended for two years.
Langford was also ordered to pay more than $25,000 in compensation and a victims of crime levy of $50 within 28 days.
