<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The mother of a teenage boy who was killed during a sleepover says she is grateful justice has been served for her son after nearly three decades.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Arthur Haines was sleeping in a house in Waterloo, in </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/sydney" rel="" target="_blank" title="Sydney's"><span>Sydney's</span></a><span> inner south, with other children on April 9, 1998, when the house went up in flames.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The 13-year-old suffered severe burns when he became trapped on the top floor of the home and died in hospital 11 weeks later.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/virginia-giuffre-memoir-prince-andrew-jeffrey-epstein-accuser-reignites-scandal-that-long-dogged-uk-royals/8d52a4c3-4c03-4229-91ee-0eedab7e61ee" target="_blank"><strong><span>New accusations come to light as Virginia Giuffre's memoir is released</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Police later determined the house fire was lit deliberately.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After more than 27 years, Gregory John Walker admitted unlawfully killing the schoolboy on Wednesday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I'm guilty, Your Honour," he told the NSW Supreme Court.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/arthur-haines-boy-killed-by-fire-at-sleepover-man-confesses-after-27-years-sydney-court/b9075b9a-0b7d-4438-8d70-aa4517d5fd19" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/donald-trump-kevin-rudd-clash-albanese-praises-ambassador/8fd38add-c4d4-40a1-9f8a-53706ff6171a" target="_blank"><strong><span>'Is he a nice guy?': Albanese reveals new details of Trump encounter</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Arthur's mother Julie Szabo said it was the news she had been waiting decades to hear after the death of her cheerful "mummy's boy".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"All I ever wanted was the truth and he's finally admitted it," she said outside court.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I'm so grateful justice has been served."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/sydney-weather-fire-ban-nsw-and-queensland-break-october-temperature-records/fff683b1-062c-4808-b40e-550ebb182f84" target="_blank"><strong><span>City braced for its hottest October day on record</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Szabo thanked police for never giving up on the case and leaving no stone unturned in the nearly three decades since her son's death.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This is the biggest day of my life," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We've constantly waited for this day and we thought it would never ever happen."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She'll be marking the occasion by visiting a tree she planted in her son's honour and decorating it with flowers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Police in 2020 increased the reward for information in the cold case from $100,000 to $1 million, hoping it could finally lead to a conviction.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Walker was arrested in 2022 and charged with murder and two maliciously wounding offences.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But, after his trial was postponed the day it was to start, he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter on Wednesday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A second charge of maliciously inflicting harm on another person will be taken into account on sentencing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The 58-year-old will return to court in November for a sentencing hearing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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