Sydney house set on fire by Elizabeth Butt to get back at owners after sheriffs tried to evict her
>
Mum-of-two sets house on fire to get back at her landlords after they sent sheriffs around to kick her out for failing to pay rent
- Elizabeth Mary Butt, 54, admitted setting the Kyle Bay house alight in June
- She told sheriffs sent to evict her ‘the owners are going to pay for this now’
- Butt pleaded guilty to $15,000 of property damage and two counts of assault
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
A mum-of-two told sheriffs sent to evict her that ‘the owners are going to pay for this now. I’ll f*** the property up’, before she set fire to her rental home, a court heard.
Elizabeth Mary Butt, 54, appeared in Sutherland Local Court in Sydney’s southern suburbs on Tuesday, having admitted to setting the Kyle Bay house alight in June.
Butt pleaded guilty to damaging more than $15,000 worth of property and two counts of assaulting a law officer.
Court documents said Butt’s then-husband began leasing the three-bedroom, one-storey home in 2007.
Pictured is the fire-damaged roof of a house that was deliberately set alight by a woman who was about to be evicted for not paying rent
In February 2022, the agency managing the house was told Mr Butt had separated from his wife and left the property.
His wife subsequently refused to pay rent for the property and the owners made arrangements for her to be evicted.
On June 2, two male sheriffs went to the house to force her to leave and for the locks to be changed.
Butt opened the door when the sheriffs arrived, but slammed it shut when they said they were there to evict her.
But her two sons let them into the house, then packed some belongings and left.
Two hours later, their mum picked up a five-litre petrol tin in the garage and faced the sheriffs, court documents said.
They asked her to put it down but instead she threw the tin at them. Its cap was not secured and petrol poured out near them.
Butt then held a lighter in her hand before saying words to the effect of, ‘the owners are going to pay for this now. I’ll f*** the property up’.
Smoke is seen billowing from a house that was set on fire by mum-of-two Elizabeth Mary Butt, after sheriffs told her they were there to evict her
Fearing for their safety after the threat, the men left the house and called the emergency services.
As they did so, Butt walked out of the garage and a large plume of black smoke flowed out.
She walked down the driveway and shouted out that ‘now the landlords will see how much the property is worth’.
Police arrived soon after and arrested Butt, while firefighters put out the fire and discovered it was ignited from a petrol tin in the lounge room.
Pictured is an aerial view of the house deliberately set on fire in the Sydney suburb of Kyle Bay in June
Butt was refused bail when she appeared before Parramatta Local Court in June.
She was due to be sentenced on Tuesday but her case was adjourned by magistrate Hugh Donnelly.
Mr Donnelly ordered a sentence assessment report be completed, before Butt is sentenced on October 4, the Daily Telegraph reported.