Sentencing — assault on a person in a family relationship — arson — no guiding tariff. The defendant appeared for sentence on two charges of assault in a family relationship and one of arson. The charges arose from two incidents when the defendant was arguing with his partner (the victim). In the first incident the argument escalated into the defendant pushing and punching the victim. In the second the defendant began to threaten the victim, pulled her hair and punched her repeatedly. The defendant was restrained by a family member, but then produced a petrol can and threatened to burn the house down. After police arrived the defendant poured petrol over himself and lit himself on fire. The defendant suffered third degree burns to 30 per cent of his body; the house was largely destroyed, as were all of the victim's possessions. At the time of sentencing the defendant was still confined to hospital. The Court considered that the offending was more spur of the moment rather than premeditated. However the seriousness of the offending warranted a start point of five years' imprisonment, uplifted by six months for the assaults. Discounts for the defendant's guilty plea and health problems lowered the sentence to three years six months, which the Court further reduced to three years to recognise the totality principle. Judgment Date: 3 May 2021