A man has been jailed after he set fire to papers inside a public bus because he thought someone was trying to steal his identity.
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Magistrate Susan McGowan sentenced Sani Primorac to 15 months in prison with a non-parole period of seven months after be was charged with damaging property by fire, entering enclosed lands without a lawful excuse and intimidation.
Agree facts tendered to court said the 50-year-old Berkeley man boarded a Premier Illawarra bus on May 28 at Shellharbour Stockland shortly after 5pm.
When his Opal card was not valid, a stranger paid for him to ride the bus.
During the journey, Primorac became agitated and was pacing up and down the aisle.
As the bus turned onto Ashburton Drive in Albion Park, Primorac opened his bag, took out paper from it and set it on fire using a lighter.
The driver smelt smoke before noticing the flames coming from the seat.
The driver stopped the bus, opened the doors and put out the fire using an extinguisher.
Primorac ran off the bus and towards a stranger's home before he cut his hand on the side fence as he jumped over it.
He went into a woman's home and began washing his hands before the homeowner asked him what he was doing there.
He said he needed to wash the blood off his hands before the woman offered him a cup of tea.
The woman called her son to attend but ran from the home only to be detained by Fire and Rescue officers who arrived before police.
Primorac became more agitated and five firefighters had to subdue him before paramedics were called to sedated him and police arrested him.
In court on Tuesday, Primorac's lawyer Claire Carpenter said her client was "very unwell" at the time of the incident and was taken to hospital and assessed as mentally ill.
She said Primorac had not been taking his medication for his schizophrenia condition and felt he was being followed.
Ms Carptener told the court Primorac burned the paperwork as he believed vigilantes were trying to use the information to steal his identity.
"He now recongises those thoughts were crazy, which are his words, and those are not the thoughts he has now," she said.
Ms Carpenter said her client had anxiety and struggled when he was in the community after spending most of his life in jail since 2005, adding he also had a drug problem.
She conceded the risk to the public on the bus was "significant" had it not been for the swift actions of the driver.
Magistrate McGowan said Primorac needed to make an effort in not taking illicit drugs and took into account his lengthy criminal record. She also noted he had the support of his family and would need to be supervised by community corrections upon release.
Primorac will be eligible for parole in December.
Read more court-crime stories here.
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