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The Pontiac Trans Am that Philip Evans destroyed.
An Invercargill man set fire to a house and six cars in what a judge has called the worst neighborhood dispute he has ever presided over.
Among the destroyed vehicles was a Pontiac Trans Am valued at $ 29,995.
Philip George Evans had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of arson, willful damage, and possession of an offensive weapon, and received a sentence of 12 months of home detention, 200 hours of community service, and was ordered to pay $ 50,433.75 in repairs and emotional damage.
In Invercargill District Court on Wednesday, Judge John Brandts-Giesen said: “In all my years of practice, I have never seen a neighborhood dispute as bad as this.”
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They had been neighbors for about 10 years and had a reasonable relationship, the court heard.
In early 2020, they had numerous disagreements over noise, with both Evans and the neighbors calling each other for noise control multiple times.
Around 1.45 a.m. on June 14, Evans grabbed a machete and a gas can, smashed windows, and poured gas into the house and cars.
Evans snapped, but there was an element of premeditation, Judge Brandts-Giesen said.
Blair Jackson / Stuff
Philip George Evans at the Invercargill District Court.
Defense attorney John Fraser said it was temporary insanity, lasting about two or three minutes.
“It’s extraordinary. I’ve never seen this before, ”Fraser said.
The judge gave Evans discounts for good character, an offer to pay for reparations and prompt guilty pleas.
Evans knew his neighbors were home when he started the fire, the judge said.
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On the right is Appleby’s property, Invercargill, where Philip Evans smashed his neighbors’ windows and destroyed six cars.
“You’re lucky, you could be here on a double murder charge,” he said.
The court heard that about 20 minutes before the fires, the victim called noise control and authorities removed Evans speaker from the party he was hosting.
After losing his speaker, Evans pulled a machete and a gas can from his shed and walked to the neighbor’s front door.
The neighbor saw him arrive before Evans broke a window, poured gasoline on the house and lit it.
Crown prosecutor Mike Brownlie said Evans then had “another crack” in the house, smashing a side window and lighting another fire, before moving on to smash and light up cars.
Judge Brandts-Giesen said the victims were talking to police on the phone while fighting the fires with buckets of water.
The house filled with smoke, he said.
The justice system had to focus on victims, the judge said, and if Evans went to jail, he would not be able to repay a loan he took out to pay for reparations.
Judge Brandts-Giesen said he “wedged” Evans into a house arrest sentence, in order to pay the victims.
He will not comply with house arrest together with his neighbors.
