Man sentenced to 3 years in jail for lighting tent on fire with someone inside
Jesse Douglas Richardsson Paquet pleaded guilty earlier this month
A 31-year-old Island man has been sentenced to three years in jail for lighting a tent on fire outside the Park Street Emergency Shelter while someone was inside.
The fire happened on Nov. 6 of last year, in the early hours of the morning.
Jesse Douglas Richardsson Paquet was originally charged with attempted murder and arson, but pleaded guilty to just the arson charge in Charlottetown provincial court earlier this month.
Court documents show it was all caught on video.
Around 6 a.m. on the day of the fire, Paquet was seen peeking inside the tent, which had been set up outside the Park Street shelter. He later said he was looking to make sure it was empty before lighting it ablaze.
But the tent wasn't empty.
Charlottetown police said Paquet knew the man who was inside, who had to be taken hospital with superficial burns on his back and neck after shelter staff put out the fire and rescued him.
Paquet told police repeatedly that he had never meant to hurt anyone. The video also showed him using drugs in the hours before he lit the fire, and police noted that he was still under the influence of drugs after he was taken in to custody.
He also has a lengthy criminal record and was unhoused at the time of his arrest.
Paquet originally elected to have his case heard in P.E.I.'s Supreme Court, but later went back to provincial court to enter his plea.
Judge Jeff Lantz sentenced Paquet to 36 months in jail for the arson charge and a further four months on three other charges, involving offences committed in the months leading up to the 2023 tent fire. He pleaded guilty to a theft in July, damaging siding at a building on Queen Street in September, and uttering threats in October.
In total, Paquet was sentenced to 40 months in jail, but credit for time served will knock that down to 22 months. He will also be on probation for two years after his release.
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