A New Plymouth man says he will forever be looking over his shoulder after (in his opinion) his “evil” and “deluded” wife set fire to her Bell Block home during a protracted nasty marriage breakup. Dajit Kaur French, 48, was silenced by the judge when she tried to speak from the dock while being sentenced in the New Plymouth District Court to 5 years in jail for the arson on February 5th 2012. French was found guilty of arson following a week-long jury trial earlier this year. A witness, who cannot be named for legal reasons, gave evidence at that trial that they saw French set the house alight. Yet even in the face of this eyewitness evidence, French continued to argue she did not do it but was the victim of a sex attack by an intruder who had then set fire to the house, Judge Allan Roberts said. “You are clearly deluded,” he told her. Earlier, French, who has been in custody in Arohata Women’s Prison since the trial, asked the judge, “Please can I speak?” The judge said she could not. Earlier, Crown prosecutor Sarah Law said French had undergone several psychiatric assessments which resulted in her being diagnosed not with a mental illness but with a personality disorder. Defence counsel Patrick Mooney acknowledged there were difficulties caused by the breakup which had been proceeding through the courts for some time. But the manipulation had gone both ways long before the fire occurred, he said. His client did not accept the jury’s verdict. She had been in a very precarious state at the time of the fire. She had feelings of isolation because her family was in England and no-one was listening to her, Mr Mooney said. (For the record, I don’t think she is guilty at all. I was fully aware of the whole situation, and the effort Dajit Kaur French was putting in to getting the house ready to sell, Chris Wright Editor: bellblock.co.nz) In my opinion Dajit Kaur French has been badly let down by her lawyer Patrick Mooney.
