A man awaits a jury’s verdict on whether he deliberately doused his neighbour in fuel and set him on fire at a Mangerton public housing complex last year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A Wollongong District Court jury of 11 women and one man retired at 1.10pm Monday to consider the case of Timothy Illingworth.
The jury heard from nine prosecution witnesses, including six who claim they saw Illingworth set Joseph Baldacchino on fire outside Illingworth's Myuna Way unit the night of January 24, 2017. “Every single one of those witnesses identified Timothy Illingworth as being present,” prosecutor Emiljia Beljic said, in closing submissions Monday. “Not a single one of those witnesses wavered in their identification of Timothy Illingworth.”
Illingworth did not give evidence during the five-day trial, nor did his lawyer call any witnesses.
The jury was played a recording of a police interview from the early hours of January 25, 2017, in which Illingworth said he had remained in his ground floor flat all night, oblivious to the man who was engulfed in flames, running up and down the path outside.
On Monday Illingworth's lawyer, Michael Powell, told the court: "he says that he heard some noises, but it was par for the course on Myuna Way - there was always something going on, there was always yelling, always screaming, and he had drawn the curtain and just tried to close it all away".
Illingworth was charged with intentionally causing grievous bodily harm. If the jury finds he did commit the crime, the jury will be asked to consider whether the extent of Baldacchino’s injuries amount to grievous bodily harm.
Mr Baldacchino has since been jailed over an unrelated matter, and gave evidence last week from prison via audio-visual link.
Illingworth is also accused of assaulting Mr Baldacchino's partner, Laura Kirby, by repeatedly dousing her in fuel during a separate alleged altercation on Christmas Day, 2016 that went unreported to police.
Mr Baldacchino gave evidence he confronted Illingworth over that alleged assault in the moments before he was engulfed in flames.
The Crown alleges Illingworth prepared himself for the confrontation by arming himself with a jet lighter and a tomato sauce bottle filled with accelerant