A judge has highlighted the simmering fury of a woman, Tsai-Wei Hung, whose resentment boiled over following her eviction from a shared residence. Her anger reached a dangerous peak when she targeted her former landlord’s home, endangering the lives of seven occupants, including two children and an elderly woman, by setting the entrance ablaze.
Hung, who gained notoriety among her victims as the “housemate from hell,” allegedly shouted “Go to hell” in Mandarin before starting the fire. Her actions reflected a deeply rooted grudge that had been festering for months.
Just three months after her eviction, on June 10, Hung returned to the Clyde North property with a vengeance. She ignited the front door and subsequently set two vehicles on fire, escalating her campaign of intimidation.
In a brazen attempt at extortion, Hung demanded $30,000 from her landlord, issuing a chilling warning to Zhang and his family to be cautious or face similar, if not worse, repercussions. This threat left the tenants of the Clyde North property in fear, prompting them to seek refuge with Zhang and his family on June 11.
She tried to extort her victims by demanding her landlord pay her $30,000, and warning Zhang and his family “be careful or they will have the same experience as me, or even lose more than that”.
His Clyde North tenants were afraid and arranged to stay with Zhang and his family on June 11.
There were seven people at Zhang’s Berwick home – including his two kids and their grandmother – when Hung visited early on June 12.
She poured accelerant outside the front entry to the home and used matches to set it alight. Luckily no one was injured and the fire went out itself on the concrete.
Gwynn said she was concerned about Hung’s actions and reactions in the three-month period, combined with her limited remorse.
“Your capacity to deal with conflict and or stress in the future is unknown,” she said, as she sentenced Hung.
Hung has already served one year and seven months of her sentence, and will have to spend four years behind bars before she is eligible for parole.
