Banker jailed over grass fire death

A banker who set fire to a colleague’s grass skirt at a Christmas party, burning him to death and badly injuring a woman, was today jailed for two years.

Matthew Schofield, 27, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Gareth MacFadyen, 24.

Schofield torched MacFadyen’s grass skirt at an office Christmas party last year at which workers dressed in Hawaiian costume.

Schofield also pleaded guilty before Judge Rodney Hansen at Wellington High Court in New Zealand to injuring 29-year-old Angela Offwood, who was badly burned in the incident.

Offwood has since undergone six plastic surgery operations and has needed 800 staples to secure skin grafts.

MacFadyen and Offwood were in a cubicle in the men’s toilets when Schofield set fire to MacFadyen’s skirt by reaching under the door with a cigarette lighter.

An earlier hearing was told Schofield was in ‘‘celebratory mood’’ after setting fire to his colleague.

‘‘I’ve lit his skirt,’’ he announced to partygoers.

Moments later, MacFadyen staggered from the toilets charred and blackened, his head described as ‘‘glowing like a cigarette,’’ the court was told.

He died three days later after suffering burns to 90% of his body.

Earlier in the evening, Schofield had set fire to MacFadyen’s grass skirt which briefly caught fire before being patted out, the court was told.

Judge Hansen said that MacFadyen’s family was still deeply troubled by the tragedy.

‘‘The trauma of his death was magnified by the way in which he died,’’ the judge said.

‘‘Knowing how he suffered still haunts them.’’