Before the blaze at her NSW delicatessen, Roseanne Beckett's life was nothing out of the ordinary.
But over the following three decades, she'd be dragged away in handcuffs, wrongfully imprisoned for 10 years, beaten in jail and fighting against the state.
Now, having been awarded more than $2.3 million in damages against the state, she has "victory" at long last.
Ms Beckett, formerly known as Roseanne Catt, cried and proclaimed "God is good" on Monday after Justice Ian Harrison awarded her the multi-million dollar payout plus costs.
He found the man who led the charge against her - the late Detective Sergeant Peter Thomas - acted maliciously when prosecuting her and used the legal system in a way that did not secure justice but perverted it.
"He took that 10 years away from me," Ms Beckett said after the judgment as she celebrated with her many supporters.
"No amount of money can bring that 10 years back."
It comes more than a decade after she was released from jail in 2001, having served the majority of her 12-year sentence for several charges, including soliciting the murder of her ex-husband, Barry Catt.
Ms Beckett's conviction for this and other offences were quashed in 2005.
All the heartache seems to have stemmed from one incident - a blaze at her Taree delicatessen on Christmas Day, 1983.
"Ms Beckett would appear at all times up until the fire ... to have been an ordinary citizen going about her business in an unremarkable way," Justice Harrison said.
"From 25 December that year, however, things changed dramatically and for the worse."
Det Sgt Thomas investigated the fire and accused Ms Beckett of arson - a charge that was later dropped.
Meanwhile, Det Sgt Thomas found himself facing a number of complaints from Ms Beckett, who claimed he made suggestive remarks to her and was inebriated at the time of the blaze.
"This was the cauldron out of which the later monumental events would develop," Justice Harrison said.
As the internal investigation into Det Sgt Thomas continued, Ms Beckett married the local panel beater Barry Catt in 1987 - who had a history of mental illness.
A year later the pair separated, with Ms Beckett taking an AVO out on him.
Then on August 24 1989 at 7.30am, Ms Beckett was in her night attire when police came to her house, handcuffed her and began a search.
A pistol was found in the ensuite and the next day Ms Beckett was charged with several offences against Mr Catt, including two counts of solicit to murder.
Ms Beckett has always claimed the gun was planted.
Pointing at one of the solicit to murder charges, Justice Harrison found the "so-called evidence" against Ms Beckett was "woefully inadequate".
"It would surprise me to the point of astonishment if Detective Thomas had ever been presented with a more absurd complaint in the whole of his policing career."
Other charges laid against her were clearly an "act of vengeance" on Det Sgt Thomas's behalf, he found.
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