A woman who poured petrol on a neighbour and set her alight after a dispute over an e-scooter said her family kept the fuel handy to torch intruders in self-defence.
Jordan Spencer, 34, poured petrol on Paris Carpio’s head and set her on fire outside a Middlesex Crescent home in Shepparton, in Victoria’s north, on January 15, 2024.
In February, Spencer pleaded guilty to a charge of intentionally causing serious injury in circumstances of gross violence.
The court heard the attack occurred following heated arguments about the whereabouts of Ms Carpio’s e-scooter, which Ms Carpio claimed had been taken by Spencer’s ex-partner.
Spencer claimed it was that ex-partner who had left a bowl of petrol by her door and instructed her to ‘light them up’ if faced with an intruder.
On Thursday, Spencer’s barrister James McQuilan told the Supreme Court of Victoria his client’s outrageous behaviour was now ‘accepted practice’ by Victorian villains.
Mr McQuilan made the submission at a pre-sentence hearing to Justice Andrew Tinney, a former top prosecutor before his promotion to the Supreme Court in 2018.
Justice Tinney said he thought the notion anyone would think it acceptable to set someone on fire as a form of self-defence was nonsense.
Paris Carpio-Woodley (pictured) had her ‘entire head’ set on fire after an argument outside a home in Shepparton, in Victoria’s north, last year
‘The idea that someone – that the boyfriend of Ms Spencer – would have proposed to her as a weapon to use at some future time if necessary, a bowl of petrol and a lighter to set fire to someone, I must say, it strikes me as being highly implausible,’ he said.
But Mr McQuilan refuted the judge’s observations, citing a number of recent cases where people have faced court in Victoria for setting people on fire.
‘The frequency of assaults, or attacks, of people in this state by fire is so prevalent – and increasing – it’s not unforeseeable that some drug dealer fellow would think of that method of defence,’ he said.
‘Even just threatening to throw petrol over people – it seems to be the common, well not common, but an accepted form of attack these days.’
Justice Tinney said the method ‘certainly wasn’t accepted’ by the court.
‘It just sounds pretty outlandish,’ he said.
‘I mean you’d have a baseball bat or a crowbar or a rifle.’
‘I have never heard of a proposition of, in protecting a drug house or whatever it is, having a bowl of petrol with a view to setting fire to someone should they come to the premises.’
Jordan Spencer (pictured), lit the fire that engulfed Ms Carpio-Woodley after accelerant was thrown on her
Ms Carpio-Woodley, then aged 20, was ‘unrecognisable’ after the attack.
Neighbours told reporters at the time that Ms Carpio-Woodley’s ‘entire head’ was ablaze and a garden hose had to be used to douse the flames.
‘(Paris) is unrecognisable,’ a source close to the family told Daily Mail then.
‘Her siblings are having nightmares – it’s not fair.
‘We don’t understand how anyone could do this to such a beautiful young lady.’
During a hearing in June, Ms Carpio and her mother Kylie Powell delivered victim impact statements.
Between tears, Ms Carpio told the court the attack had left her with burns to 30 per cent of her body, including severe damage to her airways and lungs.
‘I now live a life filled with anxiety, depression and isolation,’ she said then.
Both Ms Carpio-Woodley and Spencer were airlifted from Middlesex Crescent (pictured) to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne after the attack
Ms Powell said her daughter now relied heavily on her and struggled to do the things she used to be able to do, the ABC reported.
‘I must constantly watch her and make sure she is OK,’ Ms Powell said.
‘[It’s] causing me to suffer with anxiety, especially when she has gone somewhere by herself.’
The court heard Ms Carpio was quite volatile and upset when she knocked on Spencer’s door looking for her e-scooter.
It heard Ms Carpio had tried to to break down Spencer’s front door and smashed one of her windows with a brick while looking to find Spencer’s ex-partner.
On Thursday, clinical psychologist Courtney Steffens told the court she believed Spencer was likely suffering some kind of psychotic episode at the time of the attack.
She said Spencer had a long history of mental illness and had been abusing methamphetamines in the days leading up to the attack.
The court heard Spencer blamed much of her offending on her cheating ex-partner and suggested she wasn’t sure what was in the bowl despite using a lighter to set the liquid ablaze.
Detectives from the Arson and Explosives Squad were dispatched to the scene (pictured)
The shocking incident was captured on CCTV cameras.
Ms Carpio-Woodley’s family has established a GoFundMe to ‘help our beautiful Paris with her recovery journey’.
‘Paris is absolutely adored whereever she goes. She has a heart of gold. She is a very much-loved daughter to her mother Kylie and Father Ron (dec) and 11 siblings,’ the fundraiser stated.
‘Paris loves playing football, being with friends and family and laughing. She has a beautiful contagious smile and laugh. Anyone that meets Paris would say the same.’
The fundraiser has raised just $4,820 of a $10,000 target.
The hearing continues.
