A man who pretended to be a witness to a fire he started in the basement of a North Adelaide building has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Mark Peter Adams was previously found guilty of deliberately setting fire to rubbish bins at the Australian Medical Association (AMA) building in May 2020.
The fire spread through the air-conditioning duct, causing an estimated $5 million of damage to the building and the patient records and medical equipment inside.
The South Australian District Court heard Adams, who lived on the same street as the AMA building, was bored and lit the fire for excitement.
"The fire that you ultimately caused was much more serious than what you had intended," Judge Emily Telfer said.
The court heard Adams was living with physical and cognitive impairments caused by a stroke in 2018.
The court also heard Adams portrayed himself as a witness immediately after the blaze, telling security about seeing a group of teenagers who might be responsible.
"What you told those various people about seeing a group of teenagers within the vicinity of the AMA site was a lie," Judge Telfer said.
"It was a poorly told story, which changed with each telling," she said.
"Your behaviour in the aftermath of the fire was part of you boosting your self-importance … adding to the excitement and the alleviation of boredom that you were seeking."
The court heard he was "visibly agitated" the day before the blaze, and told one of his support workers that he was thinking of lighting a hedge fire because he was bored.
"You expressed frustration that the government agency who controls your financial affairs had not paid you and you had no money for cigarettes," Judge Telfer said.
Adams has been in custody since his arrest in May 2020.
His sentence has been backdated and with a non-parole period of three years, Judge Telfer said he would be eligible to apply for release in May 2023.
Judge Telfer said Adams's stroke caused him to have issues with impulse control.
"Your moral blameworthiness is somewhat reduced by the fact that you were operating under a cognitive impairment that reduced your capacity to cope with the frustrating circumstances in which you found yourself and which compromised your impulse control and your reasoning capacity," she said.
"I do however consider that … deterring you is important because you need to understand that your poor decision-making can have serious consequences for you and for your community."
Outside court, his parents Peter Kingsley and Jennifer Adams said they were "shocked" he did not receive a longer sentence.
"He's got to pay for it. He can't get away from it," Ms Adams said.
