Healey Gets 4.5 Years for Five Dunedin Fires

Andrew Magnus Healey, 49, was sentenced to four years and six months in prison on Wednesday for his role in five arsons committed across Dunedin last year.

Judge David Robinson delivered the verdict in the Dunedin District Court, citing a minimum non-parole period of two years and three months. The court heard that Healey, who had pleaded guilty to two charges of arson endangering life and three charges of property arson, maintained an entrenched pattern of offending with few signs of behavioral change.

The fires began in the early hours of November 14, 2025, when Healey and two accomplices traveled to Montpellier Street in Healey's car. They entered the derelict Glamis Hospital, where an accomplice handed Healey a lighter and acted as a lookout. Healey used accelerant to ignite discarded items, causing the building to catch fire. The group fled without alerting nearby residents and watched the flames from a nearby park.

Later that same night, the trio drove to Tomahawk Road in Ocean Grove. Healey set fire to a portable toilet, an act captured on closed-circuit television. Two days later, the group targeted a building on Harrow Street, which suffered such severe damage that demolition became the likely outcome. Healey again instigated the fire without warning neighbors.

The sequence continued at 23 Lees Street, a single-story house that was unoccupied at the time. Three adjacent homes were inhabited. While the driver waited in the vehicle, Healey and his accomplice threw three Molotov cocktails at the structure. One bounced off, while another entered through a front window and ignited. The group drove to Kensington Oval to observe the blaze, which fire crews later assessed as requiring full demolition due to structural damage.

The following morning, the trio drove to a car park near the Otago Pistol Club. Healey and his accomplice walked into a wooded area, where Healey used accelerant and a newspaper wrapped in black duct tape to ignite trees and vegetation. A passing driver alerted the fire service, allowing crews to extinguish the flames before the trio escaped, a departure also recorded on video.

Police executed a search warrant and arrested Healey at his home on November 19, 2025. During sentencing, the court reviewed his troubled background, including a past incident in which his brother was badly burned in a fire. Judge Robinson acknowledged the trauma of that event but granted only a 5 percent discount for his history, noting the absence of explanation for his subsequent actions.

Although Healey submitted a letter expressing remorse, Judge Robinson described the gesture as entirely inconsistent with his conduct during the pre-sentence report. The judge noted that Healey minimized his culpability and posed a risk to the community, leading to the final sentencing determination.