A grandfather who suffered deep burns when an asylum seeker set fire to himself and caused an inferno in a Melbourne bank says he has been left a broken man.
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Choy Hok, then 71, suffered deep burns to his face, neck, arms and hands when Nur Islam poured petrol on the floor of the Commonwealth Bank at Springvale on November 18, 2016 and used a cigarette lighter to spark the inferno.
"My life has been ruined after this incident ... the effects and consequences have been devastating and life-changing," Mr Hok said in his victim statement, read by prosecutor Kevin Doyle.
"I am a broken man and my family and I will never recover."
Mr Hok, who has since returned to Cambodia, said he "looked like a freak" and was afraid of "children looking at me like I was a monster", the County Court of Victoria was told on Monday.
Islam, a Myanmar Rohingyan asylum seeker, has pleaded guilty to one charge of arson, four of recklessly causing serious injury and another 11 of recklessly causing injury, with more than 90 charges withdrawn.
There were about 39 people inside the bank at the time he caught fire and ran around the bank as customers and staff tried to leave.
The blaze destroyed the $2.5 million building.
The court heard Islam, then 21, had issues with his ATM card, left the bank, picked up a plastic container and filled it up at the nearby petrol station before returning.
"He was asked why he lit the fire and he said he couldn't think of why he did it, but he felt angry at the time," Mr Doyle said.
He also admitted he used the drug ice in the evening before the attack, and was "not normal" by the time of the incident.
Now an "unlawful non-citizen" with an expired visa, Islam spent four-and-a-half-months in hospital and has served more than two years in pre-sentence detention.
Defence barrister Barnaby Johnston said Islam, now 24, had "horrific injuries" following the attack, with burns to 60 per cent of his body.
"His scarring over his entire body is horrendous," Mr Johnston said.
"It will remain a permanent reminder of his offending for the rest of his life."
Commonwealth Bank worker Susan Peterson said she tried to hide with an "hysterical" customer during the attack, which resulted in the building filling with black smoke.
"I didn't know how we were going to get out of the building, there was so much smoke," she said in her statement read by Mr Doyle.
"I was sure I was going to die.
"This incident will never go away. It will always be in the back of my mind."
Islam will be sentenced on Friday.
Australian Associated Press
