Source: news.com.au
March 31, 2008 Author: MARIA RAE
A 19-YEAR-OLD woman set fire to her own paper-wrapped faeces in revenge for having her boyfriend stolen, a court heard.
The woman defecated in a piece of newspaper and put it on the front porch of a house belonging to a woman who she found out had a brief affair with her partner.
The Supreme Court in Hobart heard the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, ignited the paper but it failed to catch alight.
She then lit another piece of paper on fire and slid it through the front door.
The blaze caught on to the curtains and travelled up into the ceiling, causing $15,000 worth of damage before fire fighters put it out.
Defence lawyer Kate Cuthbertson said the woman had a terrible childhood as a ward of the state and was often moved around foster homes.
She said the woman, who has an intellectual disability, was 22 weeks pregnant but the child was unlikely to survive because of liver and kidney problems.
Ms Cuthbertson said the woman found out her partner was having a brief liaison with the complainant and had taken morphine, cannabis and amphetamines when she did the crime.
The woman had pleaded guilty to the arson at New Norfolk on April 9 last year.
Justice Alan Blow ordered a pre-sentence report and bailed her to appear on May 26.
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