A PORTLAND man who deliberately set his housemate alight on Eversley Street in Hamilton after dousing him with petrol in 2019 has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

Umit Gorgulu, 40, appeared at the Supreme Court of Victoria on Friday morning where he was sentenced for intentionally causing serious injury, after a jury found him guilty in March.

The court heard that on April 18, 2019, Gorgulu and his 47-year-old housemate, Kevin Taplin, were driving from Portland to Hamilton to collect a motorbike for Mr Taplin, when Gorgulu became enraged for no apparent reason and threw his own mobile phone out the window, causing Mr Taplin to pull over so he could retrieve it, but Gorgulu got out and gestured for Mr Taplin to drive away.

Mr Taplin then continued to drive to Hamilton, but when the person he was meant to meet was not ready he returned to check on Gorgulu, who was walking along the highway, however, when he pulled the car over, Gorgulu abused him and tried unsuccessfully to grab his car keys, prompting Mr Taplin to leave again.

Gorgulu then hitchhiked to Hamilton where during the car ride he was angry when talking about Mr Taplin and said he would burn his motorbike and “f*** him up”, before leaving a threatening voicemail on Mr Taplin’s phone.

When the two reunited in Hamilton, they were travelling in a car with another person when Gorgulu began acting aggressively towards Mr Taplin, punching the back of his head several times while he was in the back seat of the car and Mr Taplin was in the passenger seat.

Later on in the day, Mr Taplin tried to drive away from an address in Eversley Street, Hamilton, causing Gorgulu to yell and scream at him not to drive, before holding on to the driver’s side of the vehicle while Mr Taplin drove at a walking pace, until eventually he stopped the car.

The court heard Gorgulu then grabbed a five-litre petrol tin from the rear tray of the vehicle and threw fuel over Mr Taplin and the car, before setting him and the car alight with a cigarette lighter.

Mr Taplin was immediately engulfed in flames, so exited the vehicle and started rolling on the ground, with neighbours assisting to put out the fire and to call emergency services.

Mr Taplin was airlifted to the Alfred Hospital where he spent two weeks in an induced coma and was treated for serious burns to his head, neck, chest, right upper limb, and left hand, as well as damage to his lungs and eyes.

The court head Gorgulu spoke to police at the scene, where he said he was angry with Mr Taplin as he had lied to him about needing to retrieve a motorbike and was instead “chasing drugs”.

He told police he had an argument with Mr Taplin because he did not want him to drive while on drugs and poured petrol on the car and used the lighter to scare him.

In his police interview, Gorgulu consistently said he did not mean to hurt Mr Taplin as he was his best mate, and described his actions as “silly”.

During the plea hearing, Mr Taplin’s victim impact statement was read and detailed his excruciating pain throughout his recovery, and the physical, psychological, and emotional scars he sustained from the incident, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, and struggling to trust others.

The court heard Gorgulu had struggled with depression, anxiety, and shame since his partner left him and had used drugs as a coping mechanism, admitting he had used a small amount of methamphetamine three days prior to the incident.

Gorgulu said he had “anger issues”, and an assessment found he met the criteria for anti-social personality disorder as he lacked empathy, was largely mistrustful and responded impulsively when wronged.

The court heard during his time in custody, Gorgulu has been employed within the prison and has participated in programs, with his lawyers saying he has good prospects for rehabilitation.

Prosecutions said this was a particularly bad example of intentionally causing serious injury as it involved deliberate steps, the victim’s vehicle was destroyed, and the injuries were horrendous and life-threatening.

Justice Amanda Fox said she believed Gorgulu deliberately poured petrol on Mr Taplin and set him on fire to cause him serious injury.

She said deliberately setting fire to an innocent person was a serious example of intentionally causing serious injury and the sentence needed to provide punishment and deter others from committing the same crime.

“Your offending was spontaneous and unplanned,” she said.

“You had opportunity to walk away from the situation, but you chose to remain in circumstances where you were enraged and angry with Mr Taplin.”

Justice Fox said while a small quantity of ice was found in Mr Taplin’s bag, there was no evidence he had consumed drugs that day and Gorgulu’s reasons for being angry did not “excuse or adequately explain the extreme level of anger” he displayed towards his friend.

She said despite pleading not guilty, she accepted that Gorgulu was “immediately and sincerely” apologetic for the harm he had caused, which acted in his favour. 

The maximum penalty for intentionally causing serious injury is 20 years imprisonment.

The court heard Gorgulu had a prior criminal history for a range of offences and had previously been in custody.

“Your criminal history reveals an ongoing and unresolved problem with anger and anger management, and a disregard for court orders,” Justice Fox said.

Justice Fox convicted Gorgulu and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of seven years, with 1177 days already served as part of pre-sentence detention.