​Sean Michael Pearson, 41, of Rippon Road, pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool County Court to arson and breaching court orders.

He will have to serve four years and three months before being eligible for parole.

Pearson has already spent 495 days in custoday, which will be counted as time served and subtracted from his minimum jail term, leaving him with just less than three years to serve.

Judge Felicity Hampel said the inescapable conclusion was that Pearson deliberately lit the fire in an act of vengeance and there was no evidence of remorse.

In fact, a caveat remains on the property put in place by Pearson, meaning it is unliveable and unsaleable. 

Pearson’s wife said in a victim impact statement she feared her husband and what he might do after being released from prison.

Judge Hampel said the arson was particularly appalling, describing the crime as spiteful, venegeful, wilful and cruel.

It also led to the loss of a large amount of personal property belonging to Pearson’s wife and their daughter. 

She said that even from prison Pearson had breached a court order, showing that disturbingly he still held angry and vindictive views. 

The judge said Pearson’s moral culpability was high and he had deliberately destroyed the matrimonial home out of spite. 

She said that three prior court appearances for damaging property indicated Pearson was prone to angry outburst and he had a problem with alcohol and respect for women with whom he was in a relationship.

Earlier: ​A HAMILTON truck driver has admitted torching his $400,000 family home out of spite during a relationship break-up.

Sean Michael Pearson, 41, of Rippon Road, pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool County Court on Tuesday to arson and breaching court orders.

Prosecutor David Cordy said Pearson and his wife had been together since 2002 but they split up during 2016 in the lead-up to the house fire on November 8, 2016.

Pearson’s wife and their daughter moved out and to live with Ms Anderson’s parents.

She suffered financial as Pearson refused to move out of the family home or to contribute to the mortgage, which was in her name. 

Pearson telephoned his wife and threatened to harm her dogs and horses, 

When she attended to feed the animals, Pearson abused her.

On October 27, 2016, she went to feed her animals, Pearson had locked her out of their home and abused her.

He took off all his clothes and said she might as well have the clothes off his back as she was taking everything else. 

The naked Pearson then urinated on her while laughing and threatened to burn down the house. 

She noticed a beanie on the indoor fire flu and warned that it could catch alight.

The by-then unemployed Pearson said he didn’t care.

Police were called after Pearson admitted burning some of her personal items, including childhood photos.

Officers attended, Pearson was heavily intoxicated, he injured his right forearm and was taken to the Hamilton Base Hospital for treatment.

At 8pm on November 8 Pearson passed boxes of personal items and papers to a neighbour for safekeeping and twice said “we have never seen each other”.

Those items included passports, a marriage certificate and vows, rings, bank account details, birth certificates and insurance documents, which had been kept in a safe in the main bedroom. 

Between 8pm and 8.30pm on November 8 Pearson used petrol to start a fire in the lounge room which led to the destruction of the house. 

At 8.30pm neighbours saw Pearson walk from his property, saying he had left hot fat on the stove. 

He removed his clothing and sat down on the ground in his jocks, saying: “F... it, I don’t care any more”.

Soon after he told a police officer he had fallen asleep on a couch and left chips cooking on the stove. 

It took firefighters 3.5 hours to bring the fire under control as they had to return to the property three times after it reignited.

A police arson squad investigator examined the fire scene and located a red plastic fuel container near the seat of the fire.

He found that Pearson had used a significant amount of petrol to start the fire. 

The home has not been sold or rebuilt and Pearson continues to have a caveat on the property during family law action.

Defence counsel Moya O’Brien said her client had spent 494 days in custody and requested any further jail time to be followed by a community corrections order aimed at providing treatment and support.

She said Pearson had a history of alcoholism and causing criminal damage during break-ups and was that stressed in the lead-up to the fire that his hair had been falling out.

Ms O’Brien conceded that Pearson’s vengeful act had to be denounced by the court.

“Alcohol and anger are clearly entwined,” she said, adding Pearson had not used alcohol while in custody which was the circuit breaker he needed.

Ms O’Brien said that before the fire his wife also told Pearson she had started a new relationship. 

She said that Pearson’s actions were self-destructive.

Judge Felicity Hampel Said Pearson’s offending was far more than that.

She said he had destroyed the family home in a deliberate drunken act committed out of spite, anger and vengeance.

The judge said self-induced alcohol intoxication was not a mitigating factor.

He was tested at 2am the morning after the fire, recorded an alcohol reading of .13 and it was agreed his alcohol level was well above .2 at the time he lit the fire.

Seven clean drug and alcohol screens were tendered to the court, leading Judge Hampel to comment it was clear that Pearson had not ​succumbed to substance abuse despite their availability in custody. 

Mr Cordy said Pearson had committed a vile, spiteful and cowardly act in response to a relationship break-up which was completely unacceptable on any level.

​It's expected Judge Hampel will sentence Pearson on Wednesday.​