A Supreme Court jury in Hobart has rejected the claims of a 54-year-old man that he was criminally insane when he set fire to a Hobart mental health centre.
David Leslie Chandler admitting setting fire to the Peacock Centre in Mount Stuart in December 2016.
But in his week-long trial in the Supreme Court in Hobart, he argued that he was not guilty to arson by reason of insanity.
On the day of the fire, Chandler had become agitated after calling a doctor and getting no response for more than half an hour.
The court heard he had gone and purchased petrol and then travelled to the Peacock Centre, went inside the reception area and despite the presence of a receptionist, splashed petrol about and lit it.
A psychiatrist hired by his legal team told the jury Chandler had schizophrenia that was resistant to treatment.
Chandler had been admitted to the psychiatric ward of the Royal Hobart Hospital a number of times in the month leading up to the fire.
The psychiatrist gave evidence Chandler was also suffering delusions, associated with his schizophrenia, that mental health staff were trying to kill him.
But his treating psychiatrist told the court there was no delusion — rather a frustration with his treatment and its side-effects.
He testified Chandler also had an anti-social disorder that made him act impulsively and without empathy.
It took the jury less than two hours to return the guilty verdict.
Chandler is currently being treated in the Wilfred Lopes Centre — the inpatient mental health service for offenders in Tasmania
He will be sentenced in April.
