A Hamilton resident has told a jury of the moment a burning man jumped from a moving car in her residential street.
Sharene Collette gave evidence on Thursday to a jury in the Warrnambool Supreme Court trial against Portland's Umit Gorgulu, who has pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of his housemate.
Mr Gorgulu, then 36, is accused of dousing his 47-year-old male housemate in petrol before setting him alight in Hamilton on April 18, 2019.
Ms Collette said she was at home watching TV on the night of the alleged incident when she heard someone yelling and screaming.
She said an aggressive male with a thick accident called out something to the effect of "I'm going to kill you".
She then allegedly heard a car horn and ran out to see a vehicle was on fire.
Ms Collette said a man jumped out of the vehicle and was flapping both arms while yelling "Help me! Help me!".
The court heard neighbours poured water on the victim and called emergency services.
Ms Collette, who teaches advanced first aid training, said she thought at the time that the victim would die.
She said his skin was "red raw" and was peeling back like the skin off a tomato.
Ms Collette said that at one point, Mr Gorgulu was holding a jerry can of fuel and "looked a bit blank" as if he was in shock.
She said she overheard the accused man say he wanted to kill the victim so that he would "burn in hell".
The witness told the court that during the ordeal, the victim held onto a black handbag "for dear life".
Hamilton's Fiona Dunne, a friend of the victim, told the jury the bag had a quantity of methamphetamine in it.
She said that after the victim was burnt and hosed down, he asked her to take the bag so it wouldn't get wet.
Ms Dunne agreed she was subsequently convicted of selling the drug to the victim and ordered to do 12 months of community work.
But she said she didn't actually supply the drug and only pleaded guilty to the charge because she wanted to get it out of the way.
Gorgulu's defence claim he didn't intend to kill or cause serious injuries to the victim, but attempted to stop the victim from driving by pouring petrol on the car.
His barrister, James McQuillan, said Mr Gorgulu believed the victim was driving on drugs and that it was a "terrible accident".
Jurors also heard on Thursday from two medical experts, including rehabiltation physician Brian Anthonisz from The Alfred Hospital.
Mr Anthonisz said the victim underwent multiple operations following the incident and suffered prolonged respiratory failure, inhalation injuries, pneumonia and sepsis.
On Friday, Constable Lachlan Barling said he attended the scene on the night of April 18, 2019, and observed Mr Gorgulu with burns to part of his hands.
He said the man smelt strongly of petrol.
He said Mr Gorgulu said he'd had an argument with the victim and that he didn't want him to drive as he was a bad driver on drugs.
He said Mr Gorgulu admitted to pouring petrol on the roof of the victim's car.
Constable Barling said Mr Gorgulo said he lit a lighter to scare the victim but didn't "think it would go up".
He said Mr Gorgulu told him he thought the flame had to touch the petrol in order to catch fire.
Portland police Detective Sergeant Jason von Tunk said a police search of the black handbag uncovered about half a gram of a crystal substance believed to be the drug ice, as well as multiple syringes.
The trial continues on Monday.
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Jessica Howard
Email: jessica.howard@warrnamboolstandard.com.au
Email: jessica.howard@warrnamboolstandard.com.au
