A man who set fire to his Canberra jail cell on a total fire ban day during the Black Summer bushfires has been handed a 10-month suspended sentence.
Jordan Beroukas, 24, a prisoner in the Alexander Maconochie Centre, used a bed sheet to start the fire, which resulted in $2,300 of damage.
In CCTV footage of the incident shown to the ACT Supreme Court, Beroukas can be seen lighting the sheet and then leaving the cell.
He then sits on a chair on the nearby landing.
A short time later, flames appear from the cell before other inmates rush to put out the fire with buckets of water.
Associate Justice Verity McWilliam found it was unclear why Berouskas lit the fire.
Beroukas had reported feeling peer pressure and acknowledged that his immature desire to impress people led to the incident.
"It does not seem to have been a crime with the specific intent to cause any harm," Justice McWilliam wrote.
She said in her judgement the fact that Beroukas had recently become a father would help motivate him to become a positive role model.
He had also begun a restorative justice process with the prison's staff.
Beroukas's suspended sentence will begin when his earlier sentence expires in February next year.
