Guilty conscience leads arsonist to confess 20 years later
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A GUILTY conscience led a man to confess to burning down a building almost 20 years ago.
Shaun William Dennison was 23 when he set fire to a building in Beenleigh in 2001.
Now 42, Dennison pleaded guilty in Maryborough District Court to one count of arson.
The court heard Dennison used a lighter to start the fire at the Freemasons Hall.
But the police ruled the fire as being non-suspicious at the time.
Dennison came forward and confessed to the crime because it was weighing on his conscience, the court was told.
"It's a most unusual case," Judge David Reid said.
The court heard Dennison had spent 18 days in pre-sentence custody after a bench warrant was issued for his arrest.
He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, wholly suspended with an operational period of two and a half years.
The 18 days pre-sentence custody was declared as time served.
Dennison was immediately released on parole.
