One man has been jailed while another is eligible for release over an arson attack on a $24 million, heritage-listed home built more than a century ago.
Steve Nassif, 70, and Adams Kipkosgei Bett, 21, were both charged with destroying property in company using fire over the blaze.
Nassif was jailed until at least December 2025 on Friday, while Bett is eligible for parole, having been in custody awaiting sentencing since both men were arrested in December 2022.
The fire at Northwood on Sydney’s lower north shore in September that year was quickly extinguished, but not before causing irreparable damage to the unoccupied Cliff Road home.
But for the quick actions of neighbours and prompt response from authorities, the damage could have been far more significant, District Court Judge Grant Brady said on Friday.
“The fire, lit in the way that it was, with absolutely no indication there were any limitations on how the fire would spread, posed a very real danger,” he said.
In addition to threatening properties and people, the fire had also robbed the public of a heritage-listed home.
“Although reasonable minds might differ about whether a property should be a heritage-listed property or not, that is not to the point,” the judge said.
“It was of substantial value and a substantial loss.".
The six-bedroom home on 4800 square metres was marketed as “absolute waterfront estate on a double allotment” close to “some of the most exclusive private schools” before it sold for the first time in 60 years in 2021, to the neighbours.
The $24.1 million sale of the 1915-built federation bungalow dubbed “Tallawalla” more than doubled a suburb record set earlier that year, far eclipsing its £16,500 sale in 1961.
It was home to Mary Rossi, one of the first women to host a show on Australian television, until her death in June 2021, aged 95.
The home was earlier added to the state heritage inventory due to its historical significance as one of the oldest dwellings in the area.
An application to demolish the burned home was rejected in February.
The owner denied any role in the fire and the court was not asked to rule on their involvement.
The home was uninsured and no claim has been made over the damage.
Judge Brady was ultimately unable to determine a motive for either of the men jailed over the fire on Friday.
He said they abandoned an earlier attempt to burn the home, but rather than reflecting and taking a different path, later returned to complete the planned arson.
Both men regretted it, had no previous criminal history and good prospects of rehabilitation, as well as compelling individual subjective circumstances, he said.
Bett suffered a traumatic upbringing, witnessing a man publicly burned alive during his childhood in Kenya.
He is eligible for release, with his non-parole period of one year, eight months and seven days expiring on Monday.
His sentence expires in March 2025.
Nassif faces an onerous time in custody due to his age and health issues.
Judge Brady said it was a tragedy to send an older man who likely has a dementing illness to prison, but the objective seriousness of the case provided no alternative.
Nassif was jailed for two years and seven months with a non-parole period of one year and four months.
He will be eligible for parole at the end of 2025 before his sentence expires in March 2027.
