Disgust as firefighter is charged for starting 17 blazes while on bail for “serious sex offence”
A volunteer firefighter has faced court after being accused of lighting multiple large blazes in Darwin with 17 counts of causing a bushfire.
Mike Richard Holden, 27, applied for bail in the Darwin Local Court on Wednesday after police raided his home and arrested him the day before.
The court, according to NT News, heard that Holden was on bail for alleged “serious sex offences” and was wearing an ankle monitor that placed him near the scenes of the fires within minutes of them starting between January and September last year.
Holden’s lawyer, Shane McMaster, said that Holden doesn’t fit the typical profile of an arsonist, who is a “loner”.
“He’s somebody who doesn’t fit that profile in my submission,” he said.
McMaster said that in the bail application, his client had called some of the fires in and attended others to fight the blaze.
McMaster explained that Holden had no prior criminal record, and the case against him was “obviously circumstantial”. McMaster also explained that Holden’s compliance with his bail conditions “barring these allegations, has been very good”.
Judge Alan Woodcock refused bail and said that while Holden was a young man with a supportive family, he was also charged with “very serious indictable offences” which were allegedly committed while wearing a tracking device.
Holden was remanded in custody and will return to court on February 26th.