Man who torched outback real estate agency, doused woman in petrol has 'paranoid personality', court hears
www.abc.net.au
A court hears 60-year-old Raymond John O'Brien, a disgruntled tenant, walked into the Kalgoorlie agency last December and told a woman behind the front counter to leave, saying "I'm going to burn this place down".

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/634586

happening mao-shining

no but seriously, this guy was fucked over pretty consistently:

The court heard Mr Reid consumed about six bourbons for "Dutch courage" before attending a local service station earlier in the day and filling up the jerry can.

"There was a build up of stress," Mr Reid told the court.

"He had to vacate four rental properties, which were all on short six-month leases, and had to find another house to live each time with a new bond."
...
The court heard O'Brien had no history of mental illness but a psychological assessment found he had a "paranoid personality".

Mr Reid said he had attended Kalgoorlie Police Station the Friday before the fire "feeling overwhelmed" and threatening self-harm.

"He was admitted to hospital, he's provided me with the medical band … he wanted to speak with a psychiatrist," Mr Reid said.

"He spoke to a psychiatric nurse … he felt he was not given the help he needed and left feeling worse than when he arrived."

and the reddit-logo reaction is much less libby than I was expecting:
https://old.reddit.com/r/australia/comments/16lvfur/arsonist_who_torched_kalgoorlie_real_estate/

mao-aggro-shining

  • jonne@infosec.pub
    ·
    10 months ago

    Classic capitalism. Offer inadequate 'mental health services' instead of solving the underlying, purely economic issue.

    • RyanGosling [none/use name]
      ·
      10 months ago

      A while back, a Taiwanese American man shot up a church. It was revealed he was a former landlord who became mentally ill then homeless. Police and neighbors knew about him and his situation, but somehow he was still able to obtain a gun lol. Mental health services are definitely needed in these situations regardless, but yes, a less inhumane economic system would reduce one’s need for these services in the first place.

      • jonne@infosec.pub
        ·
        10 months ago

        I'm sure his descent into mental illness had a lot to do with his sudden loss of income without any government help (I guess in the case of him being a former landlord, he probably voted for that as well, ironically).

    • FourteenEyes [he/him]
      ·
      10 months ago

      His treatment was he "spoke to a psychiatric nurse"

      He probably wouldn't have torched that place if he had someone to talk to who actually gave a fuck about him

      • jonne@infosec.pub
        ·
        10 months ago

        I'm not sure how talking to someone would help him get housing. The rental market's fucked in Australia, even if you have money there's no guarantee you'll find a rental, and you can bet every time his lease was up they kept his bond for bullshit reasons.

        • FourteenEyes [he/him]
          ·
          10 months ago

          I didn't say it would help him find housing, I said he might have felt connected enough to other human beings to have the cons of arson have more weight in his mind than the incredible sense of justice he must have felt torching that office

          • jonne@infosec.pub
            ·
            10 months ago

            So, you're saying if only he would've found a competent mental health professional that would've made sure he was at peace with impending homelessness, everything would've been solved in the best way possible?

            • FourteenEyes [he/him]
              ·
              10 months ago

              No I'm saying he might not have started a fire and had even more rights taken away from him but great job putting words in my mouth

  • ElGosso [he/him]
    ·
    10 months ago

    We should start a collection fund for his legal fees