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ABC News
ABC News
National

Melbourne party hire business owner James Balcombe jailed over arson attacks on jumping castle rivals

Rivalry over jumping castle hire led to businessman James Balcombe ordering the firebombing of competitors, the court heard. (Wikimedia Commons: Azbounce4kids)

A party hire business owner who concocted a plan to target his jumping castle industry rivals with a string of arson attacks has been sentenced to more than a decade behind bars.

The County Court of Victoria heard James Balcombe, 58, was motivated by an obsessive desire to outdo his competitors when he paid his co-offenders to firebomb their businesses across industrial Melbourne in late 2016 and early 2017.

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