Corbie Walpole: Woman who doused male friend in petrol and set him on fire for sexist comment to appeal

A woman who threw petrol over a male friend and set him on fire after he made a misogynistic comment has launched a fresh legal bid from behind bars.

Corbie Jean Walpole, 24, was jailed for 7½ years on May 22 after pleading guilty to a horrific attack on her “old friend” Jake Loader.

On Tuesday, the Court of Criminal Appeal confirmed Walpole had lodged an appeal over her sentence.

The pair had been partying with a group of friends in Howlong, a small town on the border of NSW and Victoria, before they returned to her home about 5am and kept drinking. Most of the group were drunk and some, including Walpole, had taken cocaine.

In court, Walpole said Mr Loader had been “antagonising” her and ”pushing her buttons” throughout the night and claimed he had tried to wrestle her and wake her boyfriend.

“I was feeling overwhelmed by (Mr Loader’s) presence and I didn’t know what to do,” the ABC reported.

Walpole, an electrician, said she became angry when he made a misogynistic remark — telling her she should be in the kitchen making scones where she belonged and not out drinking with boys.

It was then she went and grabbed a container of petrol, poured it over Mr Loader as he sat in a chair and began waving around a lighter.

When Mr Loader told her to “Go on, do it,” Walpole set him on fire.

The then 22-year-old musterer suffered severe burns to 55 per cent of his body. He was in a coma for eight days and in the burns unit for 74 days.

One expert estimated Walpole had consumed 23 to 35 standard drinks over 12 hours, with an probably blood alcohol level between 0.22 and 0.38 at the time of the attack.

In May, she pleaded guilty to a charge of burn, maim, disfigure or disable a person by use of a corrosive fluid and broke down in court over her actions.

“To this day I feel horrible, remorseful, guilty for what I have done to Jake, not only Jake but his family, his loved ones, his mutual friends … anyone who has been impacted in this entire case,” she said in court.

Judge Jennifer English rejected the suggestion Walpole had been provoked to violence and sentenced her to 7½ years in jail with a minimum of 4½ years, making November 21, 2029 the earliest she could released.

The Court of Criminal Appeal said no dates are yet listed for Walpole’s sentencing appeal.