Six days after trying to burn down the home of a political YouTube commentator with sparklers, a criminal gang ramped up their efforts by dousing the residence in petrol, court documents say.
Andre Stepanyan, 38, is one of two men charged over the second attack on November 22, 2022 on the Sydney eastern suburbs home of Jordan Shanks-Markovina - better known by his online alias of FriendlyJordies.
Stepanyan was granted bail on October 3 and court documents tendered at the hearing were seen by AAP on Tuesday.
On November 17, 2022, Shanks-Markovina extinguished a fire on his front door mat and found burnt sparklers in his bathroom and on his verandah, police facts filed in the case say.
Six days later, the group returned, pouring petrol over a table on his verandah and setting it alight.
"The fire caused extensive damage to the front veranda, breached the front door of the premises and damaged the front bedroom which adjoins the verandah," the police facts say.
"The damage rendered the premises uninhabitable due to the presence of asbestos and structural damage to the veranda."
Stepanyan has been charged over his alleged role in the second blaze while another co-accused Tufi Junior Tauese-Auelua has been charged over both arson offences.
Stepanyan is accused of switching vehicles to a black 2018 Mercedes Benz C200 and driving with a group of men to Shanks-Markovina's home.
The vehicle was stolen by a teen in March 2022 from a home in Bellevue Hill and sold to an organised criminal network, the agreed facts say.
That network allegedly attached cloned plates to the car before the arson attacks.
The police case against Stepanyan involves CCTV footage tracking the movement of the black Mercedes as well as his own silver Ford Falcon sedan as it drove to the alleged pick-up point.
Cell phone towers were also used to track his alleged movements.
He has been charged with destroying property in company by fire and participating in a criminal group and has yet to enter a plea.
The police facts describe Stepanyan as someone with an "extensive criminal history" including convictions for domestic-violence assault, stalking, intimidation, larceny and the possession of prohibited drugs.
"The pattern and seriousness of the accused's prior offending and the seriousness and gravity of the current offences shows that the accused holds no awareness or concern for the safety of others," the facts say.
He will also be sentenced after pleading guilty to being an accessory to wounding after a violent attack on a man at a "patch party" at an Mongols Outlaw Motorcycle Gang clubhouse in Blacktown in Sydney's west.
After the man was stabbed three times in the buttocks, Stepanyan attempted to wash away a large pool of blood left on the ground with buckets of water.
He and Tauese-Auelua will appear at Downing Centre Local Court over the alleged arson attacks on November 7.
