A 15-year-old Sydney boy found guilty of deliberately lighting a fire at Falls Creek earlier this year has escaped punishment.
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The teenager was found guilty of lighting the fire south of Nowra in January, but in Campbelltown Children's Court Magistrate Debra Maher did not record a conviction.
The teenager from Airds in south-west Sydney, who was 14 at the time, was charged with intentionally causing fire and being reckless to its spread, stemming from an incident on January 30, when grass near the Princes Highway at Falls Creek, south of Nowra was set alight.
At the time the devastating South Coast fires which ravaged large parts of the Shoalhaven were still not fully extinguished.
Police said the teenager was staying at a nearby property and was allegedly seen by witnesses fanning the grass in the paddock on the western side of the highway between Forest and Parma roads around 3.30pm.
Police have been told white smoke was seen and moments later several flames erupted in the grass, before being extinguished by members of the public.
Despite a guilty finding, the charges have been dismissed without conviction.
Read more: Crime/Court
