Overview
- The NSW Supreme Court imposed a maximum term of 10 years and nine months with a non-parole period of six years and six months, making Gregory John Walker eligible for parole in February 2029 due to time served since 2022.
- Walker pleaded guilty to manslaughter for throwing a Molotov cocktail into a Waterloo home in 1998, causing a blaze that trapped 13-year-old Arthur Haines, who suffered severe burns and died 11 weeks later after jumping from an upper floor.
- Arrested in Queensland in 2022 and extradited to NSW, Walker had faced a murder trial before entering a late guilty plea to manslaughter in October 2025.
- Justice Hament Dhanji described the offending as a very serious case of manslaughter that risked multiple lives, weighing Walker’s long silence and prior criminal history against later community work mentoring youth.
- Arthur’s mother, Julie Szabo, delivered a deeply moving victim impact statement outlining decades of grief, and the court also noted a separate 1998 grievous bodily harm offence when fixing sentence.