A drug-addicted mother set fire to a Child Safety Services car because she was angry.
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Carly Elizabeth Lyon, 36, appeared in the Launceston Supreme Court for sentencing submissions on Friday after pleading guilty to12 charges, which included attempted arson and unlawfully set fire to property.
Lyon's fire-lighting crime spree started on January 4 - a day when a total fire ban had been declared by the Tasmania Fire Service.
About 11pm Lyon tried to set fire to a chicken coop on her aunty's Turners Marsh property because she felt throughout her life she'd been "treated differently to everyone else".
She'd hoped to burn down a shed on the property but it was no longer there, so she sporadically poured spirits on a disused chicken coop but was interrupted before she could light it.
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The Aunt, who was inside with her husband and son, heard a car playing loud music approach the property, but the person drove off when the son went out with a torch. That person was Lyon.
Less than two hours later Lyon parked near the Child Family Services building on Cameron Street, poured methylated spirits on a government-owned Kia Carnival and set it on fire.
The blaze spread to another nearby government-owned car, causing a total of $46,551 damage to the vehicles.
Defence lawyer James Oxley told the court his client had borderline personality disorder, depression and issues with alcohol, ice and marijuana. Lyon was hospitalised for a drug-induced psychosis for 15 days in October.
Mr Oxley said Lyon felt hopeless after being released from hospital and increased her ice use.
The court heard despite her issues, Lyon found work at a dairy farm from November to December but the injection of funds compared to the value of Centrelink payments led to an increase in her ice use.
Mr Oxley said Lyon quit her job on Christmas Eve and started selling her possessions to fund her drug habit.
"She was at an extremely low point," he said.
In the 203 days Lyon had been incarcerated, Mr Oxley said she'd stayed sober and was having weekly visits with a psychologist.
Lyon also set fire to a fence at Missiondale and attempted to light a number of other fires at Longford, Launceston, Mayfield and Turners Marsh.
Lyon will be sentenced on August 7.
