Gregory John Walker was sentenced to up to 10 years and nine months for a 1998 firebomb attack that killed 13-year-old Arthur Haines during his first sleepover. Walker threw a Molotov cocktail into a Sydney home after wrongly believing a neighbour had vandalised his partner’s car; the device landed in the kitchen instead of the veranda. Haines suffered burns to about 65% of his body and died in hospital 11 weeks later. Walker pleaded guilty to manslaughter and is eligible to apply for parole in February 2029.
Man Sentenced Up To 10 Years 9 Months Over 1998 Firebomb That Killed 13-Year-Old at First Sleepover
NSW PoliceArthur Haines
A Sydney man has been sentenced to a maximum of 10 years and nine months for a 1998 firebomb attack that killed 13-year-old Arthur Haines while he was at his first sleepover away from home.
What Happened
On April 9, 1998, Gregory John Walker threw a Molotov cocktail over a fence into a Sydney house after wrongly believing a neighbour had vandalised his partner’s car. He has said he intended the device to land on a back veranda; instead it landed in the kitchen and the house quickly ignited.
Haines was sleeping upstairs. According to court reporting, he jumped from a window to escape the flames and sustained burns to approximately 65% of his body. He died in hospital 11 weeks later.
Investigation, Arrest and Plea
Decades after the attack, NSW Police reopened the cold case and in 2020 offered a $1 million reward for information. Walker was arrested following that renewed inquiry and was charged with murder in 2022. Earlier this year, before his Supreme Court trial, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
7NEWS Australia/YoutubeAuthorities escorting Gregory John Walker
Sentencing
On Dec. 22 at the New South Wales Supreme Court, Justice Hament Dhanji sentenced Walker to a maximum of 10 years and nine months in prison. The judge acknowledged the “catastrophic” impact of the act and noted both Walker’s lengthy criminal history dating back to the 1980s and his more recent community work.
“The results were catastrophic,” Justice Hament Dhanji told the court.
The judge took into account that Walker, a former boxer, later established a not-for-profit boxing gym aimed at steering young people away from crime, but said that such rehabilitation could not undo the harm caused.
Apology and Family Response
In a letter to the court, Walker apologised to Haines’s family and said he had lived with “guilt, shame and regret for decades.” He has told a witness he would not have carried out the attack if he had known children were inside.
Haines’s mother, Julie Szabo, described how she remembers giving her son a hug before he left for the sleepover and how she thinks about that decision constantly. “It was going to be the first night he had not slept under the same roof as me,” she said.
Parole Eligibility
Because Walker has been in custody since his 2022 arrest, he will be eligible to apply for parole in February 2029. The sentence brings a measure of legal closure to a case that began with a mistaken belief about vandalism and ended in a teenager’s death.
