A man accused of attempted murder has walked from court after a jury found he did not deliberately set one of his neighbours on fire.
Michael Gauci, 46, nodded and looked up at the ceiling as the Victorian Supreme Court jury handed down its not guilty verdict on Tuesday, while his family sobbed and hugged.
Gauci admitted he poured a bucket of liquid on Shari Grey and fired a gunshot during a dispute in December 2022 in Werribee but he denied setting her alight.
He faced trial after pleading not guilty to charges of attempted murder and intentionally causing injury in circumstances of gross violence.
Gauci also denied two separate charges of reckless conduct endangering serious injury to Ms Grey’s friends during the incident.
Crown prosecutor Angela Moran alleged Gauci poured a bucket of flammable liquid over Ms Grey early on December 28 after his wife confronted the group over loud noise they were making.
Gauci then ignited a blowtorch and set Ms Grey’s entire head and upper body on fire, the prosecutor alleged.
As Ms Grey’s friends used their bodies to put out the flames, it’s alleged Gauci returned inside with his wife before leaving the scene.
Ms Grey suffered burns to 80 per cent of her body, as well as sepsis, acute kidney injury, deep vein thrombosis and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Her friends Steve Pirangi and Stacey Morgan suffered burns as they tried to put out the flames.
Ms Moran said Gauci was enraged by Ms Grey’s earlier interaction with his wife and he deliberately set her on fire.
“We say that his actions that night were carefully planned and that he knew exactly what he was doing,” she told the jury.
But defence barrister Dermot Dann KC argued the prosecution’s case was weak and his client held no intention to kill.
“It’s a case which attempts to paint a false picture of Mr Gauci as this homicidal enraged man intent on murder,” he told the jury.
Ms Grey had physically attacked Gauci’s wife and he threw a bucket of liquid over the women to break up the fight, Mr Dann said.
Ms Grey then came at Gauci and scratched at his face so he fired a shot from his rifle, the barrister told the jury.
Gauci never used a blow torch and it might have been the muzzle flash from the firearm that caused the ignition, Mr Dann argued.
The jurors began deliberating on September 23 and delivered their not guilty verdicts to all charges on Tuesday afternoon.
Gauci’s family broke into sobs and hugged each other after the decision was handed down.
The 46-year-old walked from the Supreme Court on Tuesday afternoon but will return on Friday to plead guilty to a single charge of possessing an unregistered firearm.
