A son watched his dad being set on fire and burned alive in front of him after a neighbour poured petrol over him following a row over garden trees.
Joshua Bainbridge had been cutting down trees with his 66-year-old dad Colin at a property in regional Victoria, Australia, when he suddenly heard screaming. When he rushed over to his dad, he found disgruntled neighbour Stuart Lee dousing him in petrol before setting him alight. Speaking at the Victorian Supreme Court today Mr Bainbridge said: “Seeing my father ignite and scream as he was burned alive is a memory that will never leave my mind.” Lee, 65, pleaded guilty to the murder of Colin at the Wheatsheaf property on March 14, 2023.
Mr Bainbridge had been cutting down trees in a friend’s back garden when Lee told him to f*** off.”
Mr Bainbridge made the same remark before Lee rushed off to call the police, but his five calls to the Daylesford station were not answered, nine.com.au reported.
His last call was diverted to Bacchus Marsh police who then told him to call 000 – the primary emergency number in Australia – if he needed immediate help. Lee then told an officer he would go and kill his neighbours if they did not come.
Lee then went to his shed, poured petrol into a bucket and took a lighter from his house.
He then climbed over a fence and poured the petrol over Mr Bainbridge before going on to set him on fire.
Joshua raced to help his dad, but was unable to save him. Lee then called police and told them he had poured petrol over his neighbour as he wanted to defend himself.
Mr Bainbridge was airlifted to a hospital with 81 per cent burns over his body, but he died later that evening. Joshua told the court he felt perpetually stuck reliving the horrific incident.
“I feel like I’m balancing on a knife-edge,” He was robbed of the last years of his life for nothing. The world is a worse place without him.”
Lee has a personality disorder, according to a psychiatrist, who said he was paranoid as well as suspicious.
The psychiatrist said: “He has no real sense of guilt because he feels he was justified to do what he had to do.”
But Lee was not psychotic at the time of the murder and he did not meet a diagnosis of psychopathy, they said.
Lee’s lawyer Julia Munster said the murder was horrific and that it would require a lengthy stint in jail.
Judge Andrew Tinney has signalled he is considering a life in prison sentence for Lee.
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