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Destroying or damaging property with intention of endangering life
Offence title:
Destroying or damaging property with intention of endangering life
Act:
198 Crimes Act (NSW)
Offence:
A person who destroys or damages property, intending by the destruction or damage to endanger the life of another commits an offence.
Penalty:
Imprisonment 25 years.
Summary/Indictable/mixed:
Indictable
Jurisdiction:
District or Supreme Court.
How committed:
Person A splits from a partner and sets fire to their home at 3am whilst the partner is asleep in bed, knowing the partner is in bed asleep.
Important note:
For property to be damaged, it must be tangible in nature.
Reference to property includes a reference to wild creatures that have been tamed or are ordinarily kept in captivity and includes any other wild creatures or their carcasses but only if they
(a) have been reduced into possession that has not been lost or abandoned, or
(b) are in the course of being reduced into possession.
An act done by a person under a reasonable belief that the person had a right to do the act does not constitute an element of any offence under this Part. Perhaps the simplest explanation of this is to consider joint marital property, where one party asserts, they have damaged their own property.
Damaging property includes removing, obliterating, defacing or altering the unique identifier of the property. The unique identifier is any numbers, letters or symbols that are marked on or attached to the property