She said the crime was committed in the evening, when neighbours would have been home, and “that would arguably increase the risk to others”. Photographs of the damage were included in the facts.
Nassif’s barrister accepted that his client will receive a custodial sentence, and that it would be at the “lenient end of the spectrum” by way of an intensive correction order (ICO) in the community, but suggested it could involve home detention.
He said offences of robbery or break and enter carried higher potential maximum jail terms.
Arson charges were laid against Nassif and Bett following the fire.
“You can burn somebody’s house down, but don’t steal their cow,” Dennis said.
The court heard Nassif has no criminal history and spent seven days in custody after his arrest, and is awaiting further assessments regarding his cognitive ability.
Arguing for his client to remain on bail, Dennis said Nassif’s wife suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and a panic disorder with agoraphobia following the police raid on their Blue Mountains home, and raised concerns over whether she could live alone.
Magistrate Miranda Moody said Wentworth Falls was “not exactly the outback”.
However, the magistrate refused the detention application, considering it appropriate for Nassif to remain on bail to undergo psychological testing, including for dementia, and awaiting further information about his wife’s condition.
“There is a possibility, a slim possibility, that he might get an ICO,” Moody said.
Nassif did not comment as he walked from court with his lawyers.
The mansion was gutted by fire.Credit: Edwina Pickles
The historic property was for 60 years the long-held home of the late travel industry doyenne Mary Rossi until it was sold to the Chens, who already owned the 1980s-built house next door. If consolidated, the two waterfront estates would create a 7547-square metre parcel that would rank among the largest privately held estates on the lower north shore.
Nassif’s guilty plea comes as Lane Cove Council knocked back an application by the Chen family to demolish the burnt-out remains of the historic mansion.
“Demolition of a heritage item, even a burnt-out item, should always be the last and final option,” said the summary of the council’s decision.
Further, the application lodged by Owen Chen to demolish failed to offer any “clear road map… for how the site would evolve from this point on with regard to the heritage and future development potential”.
Nassif’s case returns to court on May 3. His co-offender Bett, who is in custody, pleaded guilty last year to damaging property by fire and is due to be sentenced in the District Court on June 13.
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