A woman who set a lifelong male friend on fire, leaving him with horrific injuries, has told a court she did it because of a “misogynistic” comment.
Corbie Walpole, 24, doused Jake Loader in petrol and set him alight in Howlong, New South Wales, on January 7 last year after he joked that she should stay in the kitchen and make scones instead of drinking with the boys, Albury Local Court heard on Thursday.
The pair, who had grown up together and were both aged 23 at the time, were drinking at her home when she poured the fuel over him from a jerry can and ignited it with a cigarette lighter, causing burns to 63% of Mr Loader’s body, The Border Mail reported.
He was in an induced coma for 10 days, spent another 74 days in a burns unit, required 10 surgeries, can no longer go in the sun and has trouble regulating his body temperature as his sweat glands were burned off.
Mr Loader did not attend court, but prosecutor Max Pincott read a victim impact statement where he said the attack had left him scarred for life and his parents “emotionally wrecked, constantly worried about my wellbeing”.
“This was not a single event with a single victim,” he said as family members wept.
“The damage reached into my future and into the lives of those who care about me.”
Walpole told the court she felt “horrible, remorseful, guilty for what I’ve done to Jake, not only Jake, his family, his loved ones, our mutual friends, anyone involved in this case”, and that “Jake didn’t deserve what happened”.
She told the court that Mr Loader had been “pushing my buttons” but under questioning admitted they frequently made fun of each other and engaged in banter.
“He told me to go to the kitchen where I belong because I’m a girl, I gave it back to him and called him a misogynist,” she said.
When asked why she had committed the crime, Walpole said she “didn’t know” and said “I didn’t want to injure Jake”.
Mr Pincott told the court that Walpole, who in December pleaded guilty to one charge of burning or maiming by using corrosive fluid, should be jailed because she was not provoked and had time to reconsider before setting the petrol alight.
“She could have walked away at any point, but she did not,” he said.
“She had ample opportunity for her anger to cool.”
But Walpole’s lawyer Peter Neil SC claimed his client was a “sick young woman” who had been suffering with her mental health at the time and now has PTSD from the incident, and argued for an intensive corrections order.
He told the court Mr Loader had “pushed her over the edge” and that the incident was exacerbated by Walpole’s abuse of alcohol and cocaine caused by a relationship that left her feeling depressed and trapped, ABC News reported.
Judge Jennifer English adjourned sentencing until May 22, saying she had a lot to consider.
Walpole previously avoided jail for assault occasioning actual bodily harm over a 2021 attack on a bouncer.
Header image: Left, Corbie Walpole. Right, Jake Loader.
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