The co-owner of the only supermarket in a small rural WA town burned down his business at the height of the COVID pandemic because he was “obsessed” with the virus and angry and panicked customers outside the city were pressing on him. Buyers, a Perth court has been told.
Key points:
- Edward Mason was concerned that he had been infected with COVID-19
- It was also under pressure from panic shoppers and angry customers.
- The court found that the pandemic had a direct impact on Mason’s behavior.
On the night of March 25 of this year, Edward Guy Mason, 57, went to his store in Bruce Rock, 240 kilometers east of Perth, packed three shopping carts with cardboard and set them on fire, before attempting to remove himself. life.
He then left the building and locked himself in, before walking home, where he was later arrested.
Passers-by saw the fire and alerted authorities, but the supermarket and an adjoining hardware store owned by Mason’s brother were destroyed, causing damage of more than $ 1 million.
Mason pleaded guilty to one count of intentionally and illegally damaging a building by fire, and the District Court heard that before he set the supermarket on fire he had smoked eight cannabis bongs.
Mason decided to ‘eradicate himself’
The court heard that Mason’s mental health had been declining for about six months, but it worsened due to the coronavirus pandemic, which had seen panic people from out of town buy toilet paper and hand sanitizer.
That was affecting his stock levels and customers were getting angry and mistreating him for the items that were not available, and also for the additional hygiene measures he had to implement as a result of the pandemic.
His attorney, Richard Lawson, said Mason convinced himself that he had the virus, and to protect his clients and the public from infection, he had to set his business on fire, and then repeatedly told witnesses: “I set businesses on fire to kill the germs. ” “
“He decided he had to eradicate himself,” said Lawson.
Mason has been in custody since his arrest that night, and Lawson said in those four months that his mental health had improved because he had resumed taking antidepressant medications and was receiving counseling.
Judge John Prior said he had received 17 character references on behalf of Mason, who was described as “well-liked and respected” in the Bruce Rock community where he was born and raised.
Judge Prior said most of the perpetrators were shocked by what Mason had done, but said before the incident that they had observed that he was under immense pressure to maintain stock levels and keep his clients happy and safe.
The court heard that he had run the supermarket for 28 years after inheriting the business from his parents, who had owned it for 50 years.
‘You wanted to keep people safe’: judge
Judge Prior described Mason’s offense as very serious, saying the fire had caused substantial damage and had put other buildings and the safety of others in the city at risk.
However, he described the case as “unusual”, saying he was satisfied that the COVID pandemic had a “direct causal impact” on Mason’s behavior.
“At the time, he had an obsession with COVID-19. It affected his grocery business. He believed he was infected. He wanted to keep people safe,” he said.
Judge Prior imposed a 16-month prison sentence, but suspended it, noting that Mason had never committed a crime before, had spent four months in custody, had pleaded guilty at an early opportunity, and was truly sorry.
He also said that the Bruce Rock community supported Mason and that there was a real risk that any additional time in custody could undermine the positive steps he had taken to rehabilitate himself.
However, Judge Prior ordered Mason to pay his brother $ 479,000 to compensate him for the damage caused to the hardware store.
‘Surely there could be germs in these cartons’
Outside of court, Mason described what was happening in the lead-up to the fire as “very bad.”
“I was running a business and only saw my bare shelves. It was very difficult to deal with,” he said.
“People were driving 30 minutes from another city and they’d just come in and bare my bookshelves if their city was empty.
“That’s where the whole conflict started, because my customers couldn’t understand why they couldn’t get their regular items.”
Mason said he was convinced that he had coronavirus.
“Looking at different news reports and seeing how it could be broadcast, I thought, ‘We are getting boxes coming out of warehouses, boxes coming from China,’ and that’s how I felt,” he said.
“I felt that there could surely be germs in these cartons.”
He thanked the members of the Bruce Rock community who had supported him and said that he now planned to return to the city to “regroup and start again.”
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