Arsonist jailed for killing of young Sydney teen during his first sleepover in 1998 | New South Wales

A moment of anger turned into a decade-long prison sentence for an arsonist whose actions killed a young teenager who was enjoying his first sleepover with his friends.

Arthur Haines was sleeping on the top floor of a friend’s house before visiting the Royal Easter Pageant in Sydney in April 1998.

But he soon became the victim of a violent neighborhood dispute in downtown Waterloo when Gregory John Walker threw a Molotov cocktail into the home’s kitchen.

“The results were disastrous,” Justice Hament Dhanji told the NSW supreme court on Tuesday.

Arthur was trapped on the third floor as the fire spread rapidly.

He had to jump out of a window and fell with severe burns to up to 65% of his body.

The 13-year-old boy died in hospital 11 weeks later.

More than 27 years later, Walker has kept his eyes down as he was sentenced to the maximum sentence of 10 years and nine months in prison for manslaughter.

The court stated that the 58-year-old man “callously disregarded the seriousness of the incident” after the fire.

When a neighbor confronted him about the fire and said, “I know you did that,” the then 30-year-old responded: “If you think this is a big fire, wait until you see my next fire.”

But Dhanji said Walker has since expressed remorse.

In 2014, as police were trying to build a case against him, he told a witness that he “wouldn’t have done this” if he had known there were children in the house.

Walker was arrested after NSW police offered a $1 million reward for information in 2020.

He has an extensive criminal history with convictions dating back to the 1980s and was on parole at the time of the crime.

But evidence suggests that the former boxer has effectively turned his life around since his deadly actions in 1998, even establishing a non-profit organization for young people.

“There’s a part of him that’s trying to fix his past mistakes,” Dhanji said.

But the judge also noted that Walker only admitted to unlawfully killing Arthur in October this year, on the eve of a trial on a more serious charge of murder.

This was despite the obvious desire of Arthur’s family and the long wait for answers.

“The ledger cannot be compared to the good deeds done by the criminal in recent times, but this contribution should be taken into account and given weight,” Dhanji said.

When the term expires, Walker will be eligible for parole in February 2029.

Arthur’s mother, Julie Szabo, who made sure the public would never forget her son when she appeared in the media numerous times over the past 27 years, was surrounded by her loved ones as the sentence was announced.

He had previously detailed the heavy guilt he had been carrying ever since he first let Arthur sleep over with his friends.

“This would be the first night he did not sleep under the same roof with me,” Szabo wrote in a statement read earlier in court.

“I said ‘Yes’… I’ve been thinking about this decision a lot.

“I gave her the biggest hug, we both said we loved each other, little did I know at the time that it would be one of our last hugs.”

Dhanji thanked Szabo and acknowledged the pain felt by Arthur’s family and the community.

“No punishment I impose can right the wrong that was done,” he said.

• For information and support in Australia Call 13THREAD For a crisis support line for Indigenous Australians, call 13 92 76; or call Lifeline on 13 11 14, Mensline on 1300 789 978 and Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.