Overview

• Tufi Junior Tauese-Auelua, 39, pleaded guilty to destroying property by fire in company and to reckless wounding in a separate 2022 bashing.
• Judge Michael McHugh imposed a five-year sentence with a three-year non-parole period, making him eligible for parole in July 2027.
• Appearing via video from Nowra prison, he apologized to Jordan Shanks and said he was over crime, declaring he would rather die than return to jail.
• Police have alleged links to the Alameddine crime network and described planning that included surveillance, petrol placement at multiple points, and a stolen Mercedes with cloned plates.
• Days earlier, prosecutors dropped the arson case against Andre Stepanyan citing insufficient evidence.