Arson attack revenge | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

A man who torched a car in a tit-for-tat arson attack had his plea for a discharge without conviction dismissed because a judge said revenge could not be used as a reason for leniency.

Judge Jan Kelly convicted Masterton electricity company worker Sean Cameron Richards, 20, on two counts of arson in the Masterton District Court yesterday after his lawyer Paul Paino argued his client should be spared a conviction.

Mr Paino said the Anzac Day arson was in retaliation for the torching of Richards' vehicle and a conviction would jeopardise his future job and overseas travel prospects.

"This is what one might consider a retaliatory event," Mr Paino said.

"I see you suggest [retaliation] is a mitigating factor - in my view it's an aggravating factor," Judge Kelly said.

She later said the offence was serious and Richards had "taken the law into his own hands".

She said curtailed travel and job prospects were "ordinary consequences of convictions", noting Richards' actions were premeditated and had targeted an innocent victim.

In June, Richards and mechanic Rowan Thornton, 21, pleaded guilty to torching two cars in a late-night attack, which Richards later said was sparked by anger at the torching of his van earlier that morning in French St.

About 1am on April 25, the pair walked through Masterton Primary School and down an alleyway leading to Patea Place, where they climbed over a fence enclosing the victim's house.

They then poured petrol over a Mazda Familia and a Holden GL and set the cars alight, causing $500 damage to the first car and more than $4000 to the second.

Judge Kelly said the attack had a "significant effect" on the victims, who had felt unsafe at night in the months following the arson and had been saddled with the financial burden of installing extra security, buying new cars and increased insurance premiums.

She said Richards showed scant remorse and had never offered a formal written apology to the female victim of the attack, who was not implicated in the original arson that sparked the retaliatory attack.

Judge Kelly said the man who had set fire to Richards' van had been convicted and if he had "let the law run its normal course" justice would have been served without resorting to retaliation. She said a conviction was "not out of proportion to the gravity of offending". Richards was sentenced to 300 hours' community work and ordered to pay $2400 in reparation before 5pm yesterday.