A WOMAN who sparked a "fireball" in an Adamstown tow yard in an apparent bid to get rid of any evidence linking her to a stolen car ended up also destroying a tow truck and an unused four-bedroom house.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
And the fire that was deliberately lit in the Fenwick's tow yard in Dibbs Street in the early hours of April 26 also damaged the neighbouring Adamstown Car Doctors and several other cars.
Mckaylah Brown, 28, of Maryland, appeared in Newcastle Local Court this week via audio visual link from jail where she pleaded guilty to destroying property in company by fire in relation to the blaze.
Brown, who is already serving a jail term for an unrelated offence and told a court in September that her life "spiralled out of control" when she started using drugs, will next appear in Newcastle District Court in February to get a sentence date.
The firebombing on April 26 can be traced back to a red Nissan Navara that was stolen from outside a mechanic in Wallsend three days earlier.
Late on April 25 police responded to a call and found the stolen Navara dumped in Ganney Road at Wallsend.
Police were inspecting the damage to the car when an unknown man pulled up on a motorbike and said the car thief was on foot and heading towards nearby McDonald's.
Police went that way and found Brown, speaking to her about the theft but ultimately letting her go.
A tow truck was called and the stolen vehicle was taken back to the Fenwick's Adamstown tow yard at about 12.30am on April 26.
It is believed police intended to later forensically examine the stolen car.
At about 3am, Brown and an unknown man appeared in another car outside the tow yard and spent the next hour or so watching the place, walking around the block and fetching a jerry can.
At one point Brown was spotted on CCTV smoking a cigarette before discarding it on the road, an analysis of the butt later producing a DNA match.
At about 4.14am, Brown can be seen picking up a jerry can and walking with the unknown man towards the rear of the tow yard.
A few minutes later they are spotted empty handed and racing back towards the car before fleeing the scene.
The owner arrived before 5am to find an unused four-bedroom house at the rear entrance of the tow yard was also ablaze.
The fire completely destroyed the structure, which was due to be knocked down anyway, but the cost of the clean up and construction was estimated at $100,000.
The fire also destroyed the stolen vehicle, the tow truck it was on top of and spread to other cars and the neighbouring Adamstown Car Doctors.
Police treated the fire as suspicious and conducted a CCTV canvass of the area, releasing video showing two people lurking around the tow yard as part of an appeal for information.
When police searched her handbag they found a folding knife and a gram of methamphetamine.
As well as the DNA link on the cigarette, call charge records had placed Brown in the area at the time of the fire.
