A woman jailed for dousing her childhood friend in petrol and setting him alight in her backyard suffers flashbacks of the atrocity when she hears a prison lawn mower running or smells fuel.

Corbie Walpole was 23 when she poured five litres of petrol over 22-year-old Jake Loader at her home near the NSW-Victoria border after he told her she should be in the kitchen baking scones.

Walpole pleaded guilty in the District Court to one count of burning, maiming, disfiguring or disabling a person by use of a corrosive fluid, and was jailed for a minimum four years and six months.

The 25-year-old one-time electrician is now appealing against the severity of that sentence, alleging Judge Jennifer English failed to take into account issues related to her mental health.

Walpole claims Judge English should have considered her persistent depressive condition and a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis caused by the crime itself.

An affidavit sworn by Walpole's solicitor Jason Hanke and tendered this week in the Court of Criminal Appeal gives a rare insight into life inside a maximum-security women's jail.

Walpole has been held at Australia's second-largest women's prison, the 531-bed Dillwynia Correctional Centre at Berkshire Park in Sydney's north-west, for the past 11 months.

It is the same prison where, last year, infamous mum-killer Jessica Camilleri launched a terrifying attack on another inmate after 'fixating on her dark hair and trying to scalp her'. Camilleri was subsequently targeted in a revenge attack.

Since July last year, dog lover Walpole has been kept busy as one of two inmates at Dillwynia engaged in a greyhound rehoming program called Greyhounds as Pets (GAP).

Walpole and 10 other inmates occupy a section of the facility which has access to a lounge room, kitchen and bathrooms and is known as a 'house'. 

For the first three and a half months in the unit, where Walpole is locked up from 3.30pm to 7.30am, she shared a cell with two other women but now has a cell to herself.

According to Mr Hanke's affidavit, Walpole had been reluctant to connect with other inmates and 'stayed out of the drama' of daily prison dynamics but that had contributed to her feeling 'very isolated' in jail.

'When Ms Walpole is experiencing poor mental health in custody, she has feelings of severe anxiety and deep sadness,' Mr Hanke wrote.

'She is ashamed and embarrassed by what she has done and upset by the impact her actions have had on other people.

'Also, the loss of independence and freedom, and separation from her family and friends, is strongly felt by Ms Walpole.'

Walpole had faced a maximum possible sentence of 25 years for setting Mr Loader ablaze as he sat on a chair in her backyard at Howlong, about 30km west of Albury, on January 6, 2024.

She claimed Mr Loader had been antagonising her throughout the evening when she finally snapped at about 4am after he told her she should be in the kitchen baking scones.

'He told me to go to the kitchen where I belong because I'm a girl,' Walpole said. 'I gave it back to him and called him a misogynist. 

'He was really pushing my buttons. I was feeling overwhelmed by [Mr Loader's] presence, and I didn't know what to do.' 

Walpole, who had been taking cocaine, got up from an outdoor table, went to her garage and collected a five-litre jerry can of petrol. She returned to the table, poured the fuel over Mr Loader and set him alight.

Judge English found Walpole had begun drinking about 5pm - downing bottles of cider, schooners of Canadian Club and Bacardi and cola, and cans of Hard Solo. 

An expert estimated Walpole had consumed 23 to 35 standard drinks over 12 hours and would have had a blood alcohol level between 0.22 and 0.38. 

Mr Loader, who suffered third-degree burns to 55 per cent of his body and less severe injuries to an additional six per cent, underwent 10 operations and spent eight days in a coma.

He had worked mustering cattle in Queensland but after the attack could no longer expose his skin to the sun and his body struggled to regulate its temperature because his sweat glands were burnt off. 

Mr Hanke said in his affidavit that Walpole continued to experience nightmares and flashbacks to the night of the crime, 'some of which are new and some of which are intensified in [jail].

'Ms Walpole is triggered by the sound of mowing equipment or the smell of petrol, which causes her to feel intense emotions and physical sensations in her chest and stomach,' he wrote. 

'She also experiences these symptoms when she sees or hears stories on the news relating to criminal conduct, and particularly any stories involving fire.

'Ms Walpole feels as though she must suppress her trauma to cope with the daily challenge of being in [jail] and due to the inadequacy of the psychological treatment available to her.'

Walpole had been on bail until her sentencing last May when she was taken from the court to holding cells at Albury police station then Junee Correctional Centre.

She spent her first three weeks at Junee in maximum security where she was housed with about a dozen inmates. Several times, she was subjected to lockdowns and spent two to three days in her cell.

Walpole spent a further week at Junee in minimum security before she was transferred to Dillwynia after a night at Bathurst Correctional Centre to break up the 430km drive.

She was kept in Dillwynia's Area 1 with about 60 other inmates for three weeks, moved to a pod of cells in Area 2 for a fortnight, then placed in her current unit.

Walpole works seven days a week from about 7am to 2.30pm on the GAP program where her predecessor, a former veterinary nurse, showed her how to handle greyhounds.

'Initially, she commenced on a three-month trial basis and has since secured a permanent position,' Mr Hanke wrote.

'The work involves socialising, training, exercising and caring for retired greyhounds with a view to preparing the dogs for adoption.'

Walpole described her dog Nellie as 'one of my only friends these days' before she was imprisoned. She now plans to complete a dog first-aid course and undertake a 12-month Certificate III in Animal Care Services.

'Ms Walpole had a pre-existing interest and passion for dogs and animals, so she is very grateful for the opportunity with GAP and is very eager to learn and to continue to work in the role,' Mr Hanke wrote.

Walpole told Mr Hanke her mental health had deteriorated while she had been in custody without the direct support of her family, and she felt 'up and down'.

She had found talking to a psychologist at Dillwynia 'useful' but was guarded in what she revealed because the therapist 'whilst pleasant, appears to be inexperienced'.

Walpole was also unhappy that the psychologist had told her she could not discuss or receive treatment for trauma and that everything she said would be recorded.

'Ms Walpole misses not being able to speak freely to a psychologist of her choosing outside of the Corrections system, as well as not having the flexibility of booking consultations as and when required,' Mr Hanke wrote.

Walpole had commenced a six-month intensive drug and alcohol treatment program in January and since then had given random urine samples two or three times a week, all of which were returned clean.

The District Court heard Walpole, who pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm after a scuffle with a pub bouncer in 2021, had been abusing drugs and alcohol from late 2022.

She had been in a failing relationship which left her feeling trapped and depressed in early 2024, but admitted that was no excuse for turning Mr Loader into a human torch.

'Jake didn't deserve what happened,' she said, in one of several statements of remorse.

Judge English found Walpole had engaged in 'nothing short of drug and alcohol-fuelled violence' rather than becoming aggressive due to her depression. 

She also rejected any suggestion that Walpole - who claimed she had felt 'challenged and disrespected in her own home' - was goaded into what she had done.

On Monday, barrister Philip Boncardo told the Court of Criminal Appeal there was a 'causal connection' between Walpole's depression and her offending, and that her PTSD represented 'extra-curial punishment'.

Walpole's depression had impaired her judgment by reducing her capacity to make rational decisions and consider the consequences of her actions, Mr Boncardo said.

Her PTSD symptoms arose immediately after setting Mr Loader alight and the condition was 'not something she intended to inflict upon herself'.

Mr Loader's parents, who run a Northern Territory cattle station, watched an audio-visual feed of the hearing, as did Walpole's father and Mr Hanke in Albury. 

Justices Julie Ward, Richard Cavanagh and Richard Weinstein reserved their decision on Walpole's appeal. Walpole is currently eligible for parole in November 2029.