Canberra man jailed – after setting fire to cells with lighter hidden in his buttocks

Yes, really. The 26-year-old man has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for arson and property damage after footage showed him pulling the cigarette lighter out of his pants and lighting up his cell at the Civic court complex.

Rhys Liam Brown had been at the centre for a parole breach hearing, but became agitated, warning Corrective Services officers: “If I get remanded, s*** will happen.”

When the board later revoked his parole, he pulled out a cigarette lighter he had “secreted in his rectum” and refused to hand it over to staff.

“I have other stuff up my a** [sic], and once it’s up there no-one can get to it,” he told officers before the incident.

Despite his lengthy criminal history, Brown’s lawyer said he had accepted responsibility for his actions and understood he needed to work on his “decision-making approach”.

Like making less stupid ones.