Woman sets homeless man on fire at Bulletin Square Townsville after he demanded sexual favours

A woman set fire to a homeless man after dousing him with gasoline when he asked for “a sexual favour.”

The man was engulfed in a fireball in Townsville city center and spent 20 days recovering in hospital, where he underwent skin grafts.

Frederick James Fulford, 28, who identifies as a female, was convicted in a district court jury trial last month of a charge of malicious intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

At sentencing on Wednesday, prosecutor Thomasina Papadimitriou said Fulford had been convicted five times of violent crimes before the Bulletin Square horror attack on March 24, 2021.

Fulford was sentenced to nine years in prison for what Judge Gregory Lynham said was a “serious violent offence.”

Ms Papadimitriou said Fulford’s previous offenses included armed robbery of a bottle shop and assault involving a bottle of rum, the Townsville Bulletin reported.

Fulford, who was also homeless at the time of the Bulletin Square attack, began drinking around noon that day.

By evening, she’d drunk most of a bottle of rum and some cask wine, as well as sniffing gasoline and smoking marijuana.

The prosecution said Fulford was lying on the floor and holding a bottle of gasoline when a homeless person walked up to her.

“This person was unknown to her, but asked her for a sexual favor,” Ms. Papadimitriou said.

CCTV footage shown to the jury during the trial showed Fulford leaping to his feet and pouring petrol over the man, then using a cigarette lighter to set him on fire.

The man ignited in a fireball and ran away, taking off his shirt.

‘He was found a short time later a few hundred yards away in Flinders St East, wandering aimlessly,’ said Mrs Papadimitriou.

“He was taken to the hospital’s emergency department and spent the next 20 days in the hospital.”

The victim suffered 8-9 percent burns on his body, mainly on his back, neck, left arm and left ear, which required skin grafts, she said.

The man will have significant scars for the rest of his life, the court heard.

Fulford attorney Kelly Stone said she was the first of nine children, began sniffing glue and paint at age 13, and identified as female and wore feminine clothing by age 15.

The lawyer said Fulford’s mother was very homophobic and had once hit her head against a door.

Mr Stone said Fulford saw her mother beaten many times, including with a machete.

The man was engulfed in a fireball on a townsville city center street and spent 20 days in hospital where he received skin grafts

His client was also beaten herself by two uncles for not performing sexual favors, by which time her head was held under water, he said.

“She left home at 15 because of gender identity issues and has been living on the streets ever since, obviously having a major substance abuse problem.”

He added that Fulford underwent hormone treatments in prison, which weakened her physically, and that she had to defend herself against inmates who wanted sex acts from her, which she would not do.

Judge Lynham acknowledged that she had a horrible background in her life when he sentenced her to nine years in prison.

A person whose crime has been declared a ‘serious violent offence’ must serve 80 percent of their sentence before being eligible for parole.