Busselton teenager Ozzy John Bartlett receives community order for starting fire in Woolworths store

A Busselton teenager who took a can of deodorant and used it to set a shelf of corn chips on fire in a supermarket has claimed his behaviour was because of fatigue after a seizure. Ozzy John Bartlett, 18, was handed a six-month community-based order in Busselton Magistrates Court earlier this month after admitting to wilfully and unlawfully damaging property. On May 31, Bartlett attended Busselton Woolworths where he took a Lynx aerosol deodorant off the shelf and proceeded to spray it on a shelf of Doritos chips before setting the stock on fire and fleeing the store. Smoke from the fire then triggered an automatic alarm that prompted the Department of Fire and Emergency Services to attend the supermarket, but the flames were already extinguished when they arrived. After Woolworths staff had to extinguish the flames, the total damage to unsellable stock amounted to $768.60. He was arrested later that evening and fully admitted the act to the police. During his court appearance on August 2, it was submitted Bartlett’s behaviour was the result of fatigue, having suffered a seizure the night before the offence. Along with the community order, Bartlett was ordered to pay compensation for the damages. The man was originally charged with criminal damage by fire, but prosecutors later downgraded the offence to one count of wilful and unlawful damage to property. When handing down the sentence, magistrate Linda Keane deemed the acts a “really strange thing to do.” While Ms Keane accepted he may have had a health concern the night prior, she said it did not excuse a criminal act the following day. Ms Keane took into account the fact he was unemployed and did not drive a car when determining his sentence.