Ross Cameron Males: Kings Park arsonist gets jailtime after pleading guilty to spate of Perth fires in 2023

A repeat arsonist found guilty of lighting a spate of fires across Perth and Kings Park — including a blaze that caused a veteran West Coast Eagles wedding to be evacuated — has been sentenced to almost eight years behind bars. Ross Cameron Males, 41, faced Perth’s District Court on Tuesday where he was sentenced to seven years and eight months’ jail after pleading guilty to six counts of deliberately starting several fires across Perth in late 2023. This included a number of blazes that raged in Kings Park on October 24, which destroyed precious vegetation, as well as lighting another fire earlier that day near a nursing home in Nedlands. He was found guilty of starting another fire at Bold Park in City Beach just two days prior — the same time West Coast Eagles veteran Andrew Gaff’s wedding was taking place. Gaff and his partner, Emma Van Woerden, said their vows at the Quarry Amphitheatre just hours before Males started the fire at the park at about 9pm. Guests were reportedly ushered out of the venue when the blaze erupted, with sources stating attendees had to relocate to Elliot Yeo’s pub, the Broken Hill Hotel. The fire burnt about seven and a half hectares of bushland, with restoration set to cost about $22,850 per year over a five year period, according to the Botanic Garden and Park Authority. On November 2 that year, at about 2.30pm, Males went on to deliberately torch a patch of land near Jacob’s Ladder located near a number of multi-million dollar homes. He was later arrested that same evening with CCTV footage capturing Males lighting the fire at Jacobs Ladder. Further CCTV footage, phone call and DNA evidence put Males at the scene of the other blazes. At the time of the fires, Males was on a suspended prison term for smashing cars with a metal pole while people were driving at a busy intersection in Scarborough. During a bail application, Males told the court he had been diagnosed with mental health issues a decade ago and had not been treated for a year-and-a-half to two years. Males, who has remained in custody since he was arrested, was sentenced to prison for seven years an eight months, with a possibility of parole in 2030.