A woman in her 40s has been convicted of setting fire to a house in Jessheim using petrol, whilst her two-year-old daughter was asleep inside. The woman claimed she was asleep, but the step counter on her mobile phone showed activity just before the fire started.
The woman is described in the judgement as ‘young and disabled’ and is originally from Iran or another Persian-speaking region. A few days beforehand, she had taken out home insurance in her own name, even though it was her then-partner who owned the house.
A child they had together was asleep and had been fitted with hearing protection when the fire started. The court found it proven that the woman set fire to the house using petrol whilst her partner was at work offshore.
When Romerike and Glåmdal District Court handed down the judgement, more than two years had passed since the house burnt down on 10 August 2024. This was a contributing factor in the woman receiving a one-year reduction in her sentence compared to the prosecution’s demand.
If the verdict is not appealed, she will now have to serve two years and six months in prison.
Petrol found in 17 locations
According to the woman’s defence lawyer Sjak R. Haaheim, it took three weeks before the police were able to carry out a forensic examination of the burnt-out house. The court states that the doors were not sealed; the police merely put up barrier tape outside.
Forensic scientists found traces of petrol in 17 places in the house. As an aggravating factor, the court emphasised that the arson endangered neighbouring houses and other people.
The court states that both the homeowner and his son were inside the unguarded property in the aftermath of the fire, but that it is considered ‘completely unrealistic’ to believe that they would have splashed petrol around the scene of the crime in order to pin the blame on the woman.
In a cupboard under a staircase, the police found petrol, burnt matches and a cigarette butt, but nothing had caught fire there. However, the woman herself stated that she had heard crackling sounds under this staircase. The court found it striking that she pointed to a room where there was no fire.
When the fire alarm from the company Verisure went off, they contacted her via the intercom in the house. She then said that there was no fire and asked them to switch off the alarm. They refused to do so.
Exposed by her mobile phone
According to the woman, she was asleep when the alarm went off at 04.33. Kripos’ analysis of her mobile phone showed that it had been inactive since the previous evening, but that around 564 steps were recorded between 04.06 and 04.36. This finding was the reason the woman was charged.
The police found the woman’s car packed with children’s clothes, toys and other items for the child, and the court concluded that the woman’s plan was to flee with her daughter once the house had been set alight. Neither the defendant nor the two-year-old was injured, but the judgement states that the mother required assistance to get out of the house, although the reason for this is not specified.
Must repay the insurance payout
The judgement describes a cohabiting relationship that had ended, in which the couple had agreed that the woman would move out. The court emphasises that revenge against her partner may have been the motive.
There was also a financial motive: the insurance company Fremtind paid out 200,000 kroner directly to the woman. The woman must now reimburse the company’s expenses, amounting to more than 400,000 kroner.
She is exempt from legal costs because she is considered to be a ‘young person with a disability’.
According to the court-appointed expert, the fire would have spread to at least two neighbouring houses where people were asleep, had the fire service not arrived quickly at the scene.
