It wasn’t until a warrant for his arrest was issued that black metal music fan Jackson Marshall realised he’d made a big mistake.

Last Friday, the Lismore musician posted on Facebook that he was responsible for setting fire to St Carthage’s Cathedral – it was a joke that backfired and will now see him face a local court later this year.

What he didn't know at the time was, the man who was charged with the crime had also confessed to it on Facebook.

“It was all a joke that people took the wrong way,” Jackson said. “It was all talk and was never meant to offend anyone - I didn’t expect it to go viral.”

Jackson said he had already read in a news article that the police had a guy in custody for lighting the fire before he wrote his fake ‘confession’ on social media. He said his confession was a reference to a singer in a Norwegian black metal band who had burned down a cathedral in Norway.

Church burnings

“I’m a huge black metal fan and the 1990s band Mayhem from Norway were crazy guys,” he said. “One of the members was responsible for church burnings and his excuse was that the cathedral was built on top of a pagan heritage site and he did it because he thought it was an insult. A movie called ‘Lords of Chaos’ came out about it last year.

“As soon as I heard about the cathedral, I thought it’s just like the movie and I quoted him on Facebook. I thought people would get the joke.”

Warrant

Unfortunately for Jackson, the social media community did not see it as a joke and local police received over 100 calls before they issued a warrant for Jackson’s arrest.

“The police rang and told me and said they would be at my house in five minutes, but I said I’ll come to the police station,” Jackson said. “When I got there, I had to wait for an hour because the cops were already driving to my house.

“I thought the worst case scenario is if I get into trouble, at least I can say I actually walked into the police station.

Publicity stunt

“People have accused me of doing it as a publicity stunt because I had two singles being released from my one man metal project Righteous Death the next day.

“At the time, that didn’t cross my mind. I did it as a joke, but didn’t expect the backlash.”

Public mischief

Jackson said the police released him without charge, but later called him back in and charged him with public mischief via social carrier.

“I looked into it and this new law came into effect this year. I’m amazed. The cops said it could mean two years in jail.

“My defence attorney said maybe it could get a slap on the wrist, possibly a fine and there will be court costs when it goes to court later this year.

“I thought it was harmless fun, but I do see we do have laws in place for a reason.”

Apology

“The cops knew straight away it wasn’t me – but wanted me to take the confession down from the Facebook page.

“I feel really sorry for what I did – that people took what I said the way they did. I didn’t try to offend anyone and I’m ready to take whatever is handed to me. I have to live with this now.

“I’m not a violent guy and don’t harm others.”

Fans

Jackson said his Spotify listener numbers had already increased by the next day after the confession.

“I couldn’t predict that – but it seems I’ve gained more new fans than backlash.”

Man charged with cathedral fire also used Facebook to confess

Stephen Luke's picture as posted on Facebook.

Stephen Luke, 45, was the person arrested and charged by police for setting fire to the cathedral. He had been tasered and arrested in Lismore on Saturday morning after conducting a series of robberies across NSW.

Read more news: The man arrested in the CBD yesterday is charged with Cathedral fire and other crimes in NSW

Armed man tasered and arrested in the CBD this morning

Mr Luke had been reported as a missing person by a friend on September 6. On September 19, he also confessed to setting fire to the Lismore cathedral on Facebook.

His Facebook profile also contained multiple pictures of him with a large knife and quoting passages from the bible. He also referred to himself 'doing the work of evangelists'.



His Facebook confession stated:

“I set fire to Lismore cathedral, Hillsong church Sydney and pastor Brian Houston's house, but why?

For no reason?????

People need to know the truth about what I'm doing and why

Who is standing up against injustice

Who is defending the poor and oppressed

Who will fight for Thier rights and do they even have any?

Who are the criminals?

Mygov needs Thier pound of flesh from the Centrelink customers. They want Thier money back in taxes, rent and utilities and by exploiting addictions eg Tobacco, pokies, alcohol etc

Their greed leaves us in constant need

This is an act of war

Big pharma needs customers. Create a problem and sell the solution

This is an act of war

Mental health nutralises all threats to Thier way of thinking. Being different has become a crime

We must all think and act the same or we need to be permanently medicated according to them.

Medication destroys the person

This is an act of war

The church stands by and let's it happen while fleecing the poor. Mygov, mental health and the church all use the same method

FEAR AND INTIMIDATION to create slaves for Thier evil system

THIS IS AN ACT OF WAR AGAINST THE AUSTRALIAN PEOPLE

IN WAR ALL IS FAIR, LEGAL AND PERMISSABLE BY GOD. I have not broken the law

I have defended it.

Those people who are so concerned about me are not my family and friends but my enemies.”