AN experienced firefighter who severely injured a close friend by throwing methylated spirits on a dying fire has been given a suspended jail sentence.
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Facing Nowra District Court on Tuesday, Craig Anthony Beaumont, 40, of Huskisson, was given an eight-month suspended jail term after pleading guilty to acting in a negligent way that caused grievous bodily harm to Sharon O’Keefe.
The court heard Beaumont, a professional firefighter in the RAAF and then the Navy since the age of 20, and a volunteer with the Rural Fire Service since the age of 14, was celebrating his 38th birthday with friends at his Huskisson home in June, 2008.
During the night a group of firefighters and others was gathered around an open fire, which was dying out, and Beaumont tried to revive it by adding methylated spirits.
He later told police the first attempt resulted in a flare-up which “should have been a bloody big warning sign for us all.”
Others attending the party including Ms O’Keefe claimed Beaumont was told not to be so stupid, however more methylated spirit was added later.
The final time it produced a fireball that engulfed Ms O’Keefe, who sustained burns to 24 per cent of her body and lasting injuries.
In an emotional victim impact statement, Ms O’Keefe said summer had become “a nightmare” because she could not tolerate heat, while skin grafts to her legs, feet, hands and neck caused constant pain that prevented her sleeping at night.
Those grafts left skin that was fragile and tore, causing infections, while she was not allowed to go out in the sun because of the risk her scars could turn to skin cancer.
Beaumont told the court he regretted what happened to his former close friend, and wished he could turn back the clock.
“I don’t think sorry is enough,” he said.
