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'James Balcombe was obsessed with eliminating his rivals and jumping to the top of the jumping castle industry when he hatched a plan to burn down the competition.<br>The 57-year-old has pleaded guilty to 11 charges of conspiracy to commit arson on several Victorian jumping castle businesses in 2016 and 2017.<br>Balcombe instructed three men to carry out arson attacks on his competitors and then on his own business, paying them $2000 for each fire, the Victorian County Court heard on Wednesday.<br>Balcombe started working in the jumping castle industry in 2010 and was 'obsessed' with becoming the best in Victoria, his barrister Simon Kenny said.<br>'His drive was to become the most successful businessman in this field of jumping castle hire, in doing so he completely lost perspective,' he said.<br>'He wanted to put his competitors out of business.'<br> James Balcombe has pleaded guilty to 11 charges of conspiracy to commit arson on several Victorian jumping castle businesses in 2016 and 2017<br>Many of the arson attacks were unsuccessful, with minor damage caused after Molotov cocktails were thrown into car parks, vehicles or through windows into the front of buildings.<br>However, Michael Andrew's A&A Jumping Castles business was engulfed by a significant fire, committed by Anderson under Balcombe's instruction.<br>The January 2017 arson caused $1.4 million damage to the business and destroyed 110 jumping castles.<br>Mr Andrew said '18 years of hard work gone up in flames', in a statement read to court.<br>His wife Aline described Balcombe as a 'mastermind' and said she lived in fear following the attack, worried about what else he was capable of doing.<br>'Eight seconds is all it took to destroy 18 years of our livelihood,' she said.<br> Many of the arson attacks were unsuccessful, with minor damage caused after Molotov cocktails were thrown into car parks, vehicles or through [https://www.catscratchreader.com/users/microsoftcorp.ir windows] into the front of buildings<br>In March 2017, when Balcombe heard police were [https://search.un.org/results.php?query=investigating investigating] the fires, he organised for Craig Anderson to set fire to his own business, which was insured for more than $1 million.<br>His co-accused - Peter Smith, Anderson and Travis Ransom - have already been sentenced, but Balcombe fled to Perth after failing to appear for a pre-trial hearing in December 2018.<br>He lived under the name Paul Johnson and began creating fake stamps until his plan became unstuck when the AFP investigated the stamp operation.<br>The AFP told Victoria Police of Balcombe's whereabouts in August 2020, after searching his Dianella home.<br><br>He answered the door in a wig.<br>He pleaded guilty to stamp and weapon offences in WA before being extradited to Victoria to face arson charges and a false document charge, after he used a fake medical certificate to get out of court.<br> Balcombe started working in the jumping castle industry in 2010 and was 'obsessed' with becoming the best in Victoria, his barrister Simon Kenny said (stock image)<br>Prosecutor Nick Batten said Balcombe was motivated by greed, wanted to eliminate his business rivals and to defraud his insurer.<br>'He wanted to be number one on Google and he wanted to face less competition from others,' he said.<br>Mr Kenny denied his client was a criminal mastermind and said once the fires started 'it effectively snowballed'.<br>He said Balcombe, who appeared via videolink, suffered from a personality disorder, which impaired his ability to make sensible decisions.<br>Mr Kenny urged Judge Stewart Bayles to hand Balcombe a cumulative sentence and not to punish him for each of the 11 arson attacks and attempts.<br>Balcombe was remanded in custody to face sentencing at a later date.<br><br><br>adverts.addToArray({"pos":"inread_player"})Advertisement'