After he sat back and watched as a disabled man was set alight, Goran Ristic ran away because he was scared of getting burnt, a court has heard.
Ristic, 43, will remain behind bars on three charges including attempted murder and extortion after he was refused bail following the alleged April 2022 incident in Brisbane.
Ristic and a 41-year-old co-accused threatened the disabled man over a number of days demanding a debt be paid before the pair broke into his Woolloongabba unit, the court heard.
"On the (prosecution's) material you are said to have sat back and did absolutely nothing to stop ...(co-accused) setting fire to another human being," magistrate Michael Quinn said.
"The complainant ... at the time was ... significantly disabled. He was not able to ... run or defend himself."
Ristic then ignored pleas to help as the disabled man - who was on crutches - tried to reach his bathroom and extinguish the flames that had engulfed him, the court was told.
"It is said in the (prosecution's) material that an eyewitness ... asked you to assist," Mr Quinn said to Ristic, who appeared in the Magistrates Court via video link.
"You ran away ... fearing that if you tried to help in any way you might get burned."
The disabled man now lives in fear and requires frequent treatment for his significant burns, prosecutor Ruby McInnes said.
"He is unable to live unassisted now," she said.
"He is required to visit hospital every second day to have his burns addressed and he is extremely fearful.
"This offending is an example of gratuitous infliction of extreme violence on a vulnerable complainant in his own home."
Ristic had requested bail in order to say goodbye to his gravely ill mother in his home state Western Australia.
But the prosecution opposed it, saying he was a serious flight risk after detailing his criminal history in WA and Queensland.
"The applicant... is not a stranger to the courts," Ms McInnes said.
Ristic - who had 36 convictions in WA from 1994 to 2008, and another 12 in Queensland from 2011 to 2022 - was subject to a community service order at the time of the alleged April offences.
Ms McInnes also believed Ristic's choice of temporary residence in his bail application was not suitable.
Ristic could not return to his former residence because of its close proximity to the prosecution's eyewitness in the matter.
Mr Quinn said Ristic had played a supporting role in the alleged offences and the mother's ill health had caused "anxious consideration" over the bail application.
But he believed Ristic was an unacceptable risk and refused bail ahead of an August committal hearing.
