Serial fire bug, train vandal jailed for 14 years after crime spree
A Victorian serial fire bug and train vandal will spend the next 14 years in jail following a multi-million dollar crime rampage that spanned seven years.
Nicholas Archer was a Metro Rail worker and CFA volunteer at the time and was often called to fix the damage he caused.
During the vandalism and arson spree, Archer lit dozens of bushfires in summer around Clonbinane and even torched his own CFA station.
The 28-year-old sparked a large blaze at a Yarraville factory, setting a pile of car tyres alight. He also damaged signal boxes across Melbourne's rail network, placing debris on the tracks.
Last November he broke into Hurstbridge railway station, started a train and left it to derail, causing $2.5 million damage.
After lighting the fires, Archer would often report the incident to triple-0 and wait to be called to help fight them. He would also be sent out to fix the damage he caused to the rail line as a Metro worker.
The 28-year-old admitted being responsible for several separate arson attacks in Newport, which destroyed 100-year-old carriages.
Volunteers Kevin and Tom Clark, who spent three decades restoring the train cars, said the 14-year sentence was too lenient.
"I reckon he should have got a lot more," Kevin Clark told 7 News.
"It's still heartbreaking to look at that spot where there's something else sitting there now, and these old cars are gone.
"At least he's got, what, 14 years to think about what he did."
The 28-year-old previously pleaded guilty to 12 counts of arson, three counts of reckless conduct endangering life, and a string of sabotage and criminal damage charges.
County Court Judge John Smallwood called the rampage "extreme" and said he'd never seen one like it before.
"The crimes were carried out consciously and deliberately," he said during Archer's sentencing hearing on Tuesday.
Judge Smallwood said the deliberate acts were "extremely serious and almost beyond comprehension".
"He is one of the most dangerous people in our community. He threatened not only the public, but volunteers as well."
