Reuben Lambie jailed for causing East Perth hostel fire, killing Tammee Lee Jones

A man who was high on drugs when he started a fire at a Perth hostel that killed a woman and endangered the lives of at least six other people has been sentenced to six years in jail.

Reuben David Lambie, 40, was suffering a psychotic episode and was under the influence of methamphetamine and possibly cannabis when he set fire to a t-shirt in his shared room at the Exclusive Backpackers hostel in December 2019.

Lambie was a resident at the hostel, which the Supreme Court was told was being used not by backpackers, but as crisis accommodation for people affected by homelessness, drug use, mental illness or a combination of the three.

Prosecutor Ben Stanwix said the t-shirt began smouldering and Lambie left the room — with his roommate asleep on a bed — walking out of the hostel to go and buy soft drinks at a delicatessen across the road.

The t-shirt ignited and the roommate awoke to find flames almost reaching the ceiling.

He managed to escape and raise the alarm, but Tammee Lee Jones, who was asleep in a nearby room, died.

Ms Jones was sharing the room with two other women — one of whom was 16 weeks pregnant — and despite one of them trying to help Ms Jones onto a balcony, she panicked and ran back into the hostel.

Her body was found in another room. The 44-year-old died as a result of smoke inhalation.

Six other occupants of the hostel needed hospital treatment for smoke inhalation.

The court was told the building was also extensively damaged, with the repair bill estimated to be around $750,000.

Lambie was originally charged with murder, but he pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and also to charges of endangering the lives of the six injured people, and of failing to ensure an ignition source did not cause a fire.

He appeared in court today via video link from Albany prison, with his lawyer Anthony Eyers submitting his client’s moral culpability for the crime was reduced because of his long-standing mental illness.

Mr Eyers said Lambie was a long-term sufferer of paranoid schizophrenia and at the time he set fire to the t-shirt, he was in a state of psychosis.

However, he was criminally responsible for what happened because in the hours before he had voluntarily used methamphetamine and possibly cannabis.

‘Distressing to contemplate’

Mr Eyers said Lambie had lived an itinerant lifestyle for most of his adult life, and had multiple admissions to psychiatric facilities.

The court heard two months before the fire, while he was staying at the hostel, he had been discharged from hospital with a notation that he was “at risk of doing harm to himself and others”.

When Justice Paul Tottle began to impose a sentence, Lambie yelled out “this is a bulls**t court”, but after being told to be quiet he remained silent.

Justice Tottle described the fire as “tragic”, saying Ms Jones had lost her life “in horrific circumstances” and it was “distressing to contemplate the last moments” of her life, as she panicked before the smoke overwhelmed her.

He said the fact Lambie was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia did reduce his moral culpability for the crime even though he had voluntarily used drugs, which had contributed to his actions.

Justice Tottle sentenced Lambie to six years’ jail, which was backdated to the time of his arrest the day after the fire.

He was made eligible for parole.

Brother says justice system ‘needs to change’

Outside the court, Ms Jones’ brother, Mark, described the sentence as “ridiculous”.

“There’s no excuses. My mum had mental health [difficulties] for years. I have it in me a bit, but I still would not go out and kill someone, it’s pathetic.

“The Australian justice system is disgusting and it needs to change.”

Mr Jones said his sister’s death had devastated him.

“She was [a] beautiful girl. She had her issues and stuff but she was sorting herself out, but otherwise she wouldn’t harm anyone, she loved her kids.

“We grew up together, she didn’t deserve what happened to her.”

Mr Jones said his sister had gone to the hostel due to domestic violence.

“That was meant to be a safe place for her. Obviously, it wasn’t that safe was it?”