The case against Corbie Walpole has taken a turn after an Australian court reached a decision regarding whether her prison sentence should be reduced.
On January 6, 2024, Walpole set a childhood friend, Jake Loader, ablaze as he sat on a chair in her backyard.
What triggered the crime was a "misogynistic" comment he allegedly made about Walpole “belonging” in the kitchen.
Highlights
- Corbie Walpole was sentenced to prison for setting a childhood friend on fire over a "misogynistic" comment made at her home.
- She pleaded guilty to burning, maiming, disfiguring, or disabling a person through the use of a corrosive fluid.
- The 25-year-old appealed for a lighter prison sentence last year, citing mental health issues, including PTSD.
Image credits: corbie.walpole/Instagram
Loader reportedly told Walpole, who was intoxicated, that she should be in the kitchen baking scones. Afterward, the 25-year-old woman poured five litres of lawn mower fuel over his head and used a lighter to set him on fire.
The young man suffered third-degree burns to 55% of his body and less severe injuries to an additional 6%. He spent eight days in a coma after the incident and has since undergone ten operations.
Walpole pleaded guilty in the NSW District Court to one count of burning, maiming, disfiguring, or disabling a person by use of a corrosive fluid.
Image credits: Jake Loader/Facebook
She has been in jail for the past 13 months.
Last June, Walpole made an appeal challenging the severity of her punishment after being sentenced to a maximum of 7.5 years and a minimum of 4.5 years in prison.
However, on Wednesday (June 17) the Daily Mail reported that, a year after her appeal, the former electrician lost her bid for a shorter prison term.
Image credits: corbie.walpole/Instagram
Walpole argued to the Court of Criminal Appeal (CCA) that the judge who jailed her, Judge Jennifer English, had failed to consider evidence of an alleged mental health illness.
The Howlong resident claimed that the judge denied her procedural fairness by rejecting the evidence of a forensic psychologist linking her crime to her depressive disorder.
Moreover, she alleged Judge English had failed to take into account that she had developed PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) as a result of her offending.
Justices Julie Ward, Richard Cavanagh and Richard Weinstein concluded that her claims did not warrant a lighter sentence.
While they acknowledged that Walpole’s depression played a part in the crime, this does not reduce the “objective seriousness of the offence,” the justices stated.
They concluded that, though the violent act had not been premeditated, Walpole was aware of the consequences of her actions and the serious harm she was causing her friend.
Image credits: 7NEWS Australia/YouTube
“This was a deliberate act of violence, inflicting serious harm on the victim and posing a risk to the others present at the time. It was unprovoked,” the court found.
“We do not accept that [Walpole] did not foresee the consequences of striking the lighter after dousing petrol on the victim."
They reached this conclusion based on Walpole’s words to Loader before she set him ablaze.
Image credits: 7NEWS Australia/YouTube
The woman, then 24, had been sitting with her friend in her backyard before the attack, which occurred at about 4 in the morning.
“He told me to go to the kitchen where I belong because I'm a girl,” Walpole said.
“I gave it back to him and called him a misogynist. He was really pushing my buttons. I was feeling overwhelmed by [Loader's] presence, and I didn't know what to do.”
Following Loader's remark, Walpole reportedly went to her garage, grabbed a five-litre can of petrol, and poured the fuel over him, waving a lighter in front of the young man as a threat.
Image credits: ABC News
“I'll do it,” Walpole reportedly said. “I'll do it.”
Loader replied, “'Go on, do it.”
An expert estimated Walpole had consumed 23 to 35 drinks over 12 hours and, at the time of the attack, would have had a blood alc*hol level between 0.22 and 0.38.
Image credits: 7NEWS Australia/YouTube
In addition to drinking cider, whisky, and white rum, Walpole reportedly took hard substances before setting her friend on fire.
Still, the court ruled that, despite her “profoundly intoxicated” state, the threat she had made to Loader indicated she was fully aware of the consequences of dousing him in fuel and torching him with a lighter.
“This matter involved serious offending which calls for strong denunciation. The victim must have been in excruciating pain and suffered horrific injuries.”
Regarding her reported PTSD diagnosis, the court stated that this disorder does not make the “destructive and horrifically painful” attack less severe.
Judges said her PTSD “consequent upon [her] realization of what she had done and the impact it has had” should not be considered an extra-curial punishment.
They noted that this diagnosis is “neither unusual nor surprising” among criminals who regret their actions.
“It may flow from the realization of what the offender has done and the consequences for the offender,” the judges stated. “It is sometimes associated with remorse. It is plain that, in this case, the applicant is remorseful. She thinks about what she did every day.”
Image credits: 7NEWS Australia/YouTube
They also noted that Walpole has “intrusive thoughts relating to, and that can be triggered by, petrol,” in addition to her sleep being "disturbed" and the woman having an “entirely negative outlook about herself.”
Speaking in court, Walpole said she had been in a toxic relationship that left her feeling depressed at the time of the crime, but stated this did not excuse her behavior.
“Jake didn't deserve what happened,” she said.
Image credits: GoFundMe
Walpole, who developed a substance dependency in 2022, previously pleaded guilty to as*ault occasioning actual bodily harm after a fight with a bouncer at a bar.
Despite rejecting her appeal, the judges stated that Walpole is unlikely to re-offend.
Her earliest possible release date is November 21, 2029.
