Woman accused of dousing man in flammable liquid, setting him alight is denied bail

A 34-year-old woman accused of setting fire to a man in suburban Perth street has been denied bail after appearing in court.

The man received serious burns to his chest and stomach after the woman, identified as Tahlia Erin Russell, allegedly ran up to him and doused a clear, flammable substance on his clothing before setting it alight and running away.

The incident happened just before 11:00pm on Monday, on Cranford Avenue in Brentwood.

Police say the 57-year-old drove to a service station on Canning Highway in Como to seek help and was then driven to hospital in an ambulance.

It’s unclear if the pair were known to each other.

On Tuesday afternoon, detectives charged Ms Russell, who lives in Brentwood, with grievous bodily harm.

Ms Russell was wearing a cartoon printed hooded dressing gown when she appeared briefly in Fremantle Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning, where she was not represented by a lawyer.

When asked if she wanted representation, she told the court she couldn’t afford one.

Ms Russell told the magistrate she wanted to be home for Christmas with her “two disabled children”.

Her bail was denied and she has been remanded in custody until her next court appearance on Friday.

Police earlier called for anyone with CCTV or dash-cam vision collected at the time of the incident around the shopping centre on the corner of Cranford and Parkside Avenues to contact them.

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