Markets 
Joshua Binstead was a father, a junkie, a career criminal and fresh out of prison.
It made him, on paper, the ideal person for an organised crime cartel to hire as an enforcer to send a message to small Midland tobacco shop owner who refused to sell their illegal cigarettes.
The 48-year-old refuses to say whether that is indeed what he was recruited to do when he rammed a stolen ute into the front of the Great Eastern Highway business in October 2024 before setting it on fire.
But the fact the same shop owner had been repeatedly threatened by people urging him to sell their illegal cigarettes and vapes in the lead up to the incident was likely connected, a Perth court heard on Tuesday.
Binstead was sentenced over the incident two years ago that was the first in a series of firebombings and arson attacks on tobacco stores across Perth, mirroring similar events in Victoria.
It made headlines across the state as speculation was rife that tobacco cartels had set their sights on Perth shops who refused to sell their illegally imported goods.
“Clearly there are issues around the country with deliberate acts being commenced on tobacco shops in particular and that certainly forms part of our investigation now,” WA Police Detective Senior Sergeant Andy Elliott said at the time.
CCTV of the Midland incident was released, showing Binstead ramming the stolen ute into the front of A-Deal Tobacconists about 2am before getting out and pouring accelerant into the shop and setting it alight.
He is then seen running from the business in flames before he peels off a jumper and takes off on foot.
The fire tore through the premises and spread to neighbouring businesses.
At the time, police reported the damage bill to be about $500,000, but on Tuesday the court heard the building was so badly damaged that the total cost of the damage was well over $2 million and impacted four nearby businesses, forcing some to close permanently.
Binstead was arrested days later, but two years on he still refuses to offer any explanation for his offending.
On Tuesday, the District Court heard he was on parole at the time, after being released early from a two-year sentence for dealing methamphetamine.
It was his tenth stint in jail.
The father-of-one began offending and drug taking at the age of 18 and had been in and out of prison for 30 years, spending two thirds of that time behind bars.
His lawyer told Judge Linda Black on Tuesday that Binstead was “hesitant” to offer an explanation for why he committed the offence.
“I understand that but why did he do it?” Black asked.
“He declines to offer any explanation,” Binstead’s lawyer replied.
While sentencing him, Black said she could not determine “what role” Binstead played in a series of “threats, extortion and pressure” that the shop owner experienced in the lead up to the fire.
“I think it is curious that you have not provided an explanation,” she said.
“I can take it no further than that.”
She went on to tell Binstead he was “lucky” not to be facing murder or manslaughter charges before describing the incident as “cold, calculated offending”.
“The reality is that all these businesses have to pay a very heavy price for what you did and today you will pay a very heavy price for what you did,” she said.
“It involved planning, you had a plan for escape. You sought to completely cover your tracks. There was no cooperation with police. You declined to provide any explanation whatsoever.”
She sentenced Binstead to six years and two months in prison, backdated to January when he was remanded in custody for these offences.
He was made eligible for parole and a violence restraining order was placed on him to protect the owner of the tobacco shop.
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