The men were sentenced in the Goulburn District Court on Thursday, May 25.

Rodney William Griffin, 20, and a man who was a juvenile at the time of the offence and so cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared handcuffed in the dock.

They had each entered guilty pleas to charges of destroying property in company using fire, aggravated break and enter, committing a serious, indictable offence in company, and aggravated entry to a building in company.

Judge David Frearson sentenced Griffin to eight years’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of five years, making his earliest release date June 26, 2021, with time already served.

The second man was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment, with a non-parole period of four years, making his earliest release date June 26, 2020, with time already served.

In court, Detective Senior Constable Kelli Moller said the blaze had caused about $3 million in damage to the Centrelink building as well as $20,000 damage to the former St Patrick’s Primary School building. 

“The Centrelink building has been virtually destroyed and the clean-up is almost finished,” she said. 

She said the building had been fully covered by insurance and that the Centrelink office had been closed for one week before it was located to another building across the road, which was also owned by the owners of the Centrelink building. 

Police facts, read out in court, said between 8pm and 10pm on June 27, 2016, the pair gained access to the Centrelink building by a rooftop door after scaling stairs and a ladder. 

They entered a door they had forced open a few days prior.

Once inside, a fire was lit using paper stored in a room before they both left.

The pair then ran across Cartwright Place and scaled a wire fence into the former St Patrick’s Primary School.

This was a construction site at the time.

They gained entry into the premises through a boarded-up doorway and a fire was lit using roof insulation bats left inside.

The younger man was arrested at the former school. He was afflicted by smoke inhalation, had burns to his feet and was suffering from hypothermia. Griffin was arrested a short time later at a home in Lansdowne Street, Goulburn. 

In sentencing the pair, Judge Frearson took into account various psychological and Justice Health reports as well as letters of support from Grand Pacific Health and Wellness.

“These are serious offences that carry a maximum penalty of 11 years' jail,” the Judge said. 

“In sentencing, I take into account that the defendants have both experienced backgrounds of profound disadvantage.”