Corbie Jean Walpole, 25, has lost her appeal to reduce her seven-and-a-half-year jail sentence for setting her friend Jake Loader on fire at a party in Howlong, New South Wales, in January 2024. Walpole poured fuel on Loader and used a lighter to set him alight during a night of drinking and drug-taking.
Walpole pleaded guilty to one charge of burning or maiming by using corrosive fluid, stating she was triggered by a misogynistic comment. Loader suffered third-degree burns to 60 per cent of his body and was in an induced coma for more than a week. Walpole had been drinking substantially and had taken 0.33 grams of cocaine before the incident.
In denying the appeal, the NSW Criminal Court of Appeal said Walpole's actions were "wholly disproportionate" and required "strong denunciation." The court accepted there was a denial of procedural fairness regarding a psychologist's opinion on her depressive disorder but found that her mental impairment did not significantly reduce her moral culpability.
Walpole's lawyer argued that her depressive disorder diminished her moral culpability and that her resulting PTSD constituted "extra-curial punishment." However, the appeal judges concluded that the offence was a deliberate and unprovoked act of violence, and the antagonism between Walpole and Loader did not excuse her actions.
