Update after Love Island bar fire
A teenage boy who allegedly burned down the family restaurant of a former Love Island star was already on police bail at the time of the alleged offending, a court has heard.
On Thursday, two teenage boys, 14 and 17 – who cannot be named for legal reasons – appeared in the Adelaide Youth Court charged with arson after a reality star’s family bar in Glenside was torched over the weekend.
The pair have been charged with criminal trespass, illegal use and arson after Bar38 on Greenhill Road went up in flames at around 3am on Sunday.
Emergency services arrived on the scene to find the restaurant “well alight,” threatening adjoining businesses.
The bar, owned by Love Island winner Claudia Bonifazio’s brother Dion, was “completely destroyed” in the blaze. The Bonifazio family is not accused of any wrongdoing.
The two teens were arrested at around 11am on Sunday, after “key” evidence linked them to the scene.
The court on Thursday heard CCTV footage at the time of the fire showed five people in “distinctive” clothing at the scene – clothing allegedly found at the address where the boys were arrested.
It was also previously alleged the footage shows five people at the premises at the time, with one of them holding a jerry can.
Two other people are being sought by police over the incident.
It is further alleged the five illegally used a motor vehicle, a stolen black Subaru Impreza, before setting fire to the bar.
The car was found torched at Osborne a short time later.
Prosecutors on Thursday told magistrate Oliver Koehn that the clothing was “key, strong” evidence in their case.
The court also heard the 14-year-old had been on police bail for other, unrelated offending when he was arrested over the incident.
The boy’s lawyer asked the court to consider bail without electronic monitoring because her client is autistic and has sensory issues with the electronic monitoring device.
“The difficulty in his compliance with electronic bail thus far has been, in part, due to his sensory requirement due to his diagnosis,” she said.
However, Mr Koehn said if he couldn’t comply with bail up until this point, he wouldn’t be able to comply with a less strict bail agreement.
The 17-year-old boy briefly appeared in court after his 14-year-old co-accused, but the court heard a second home detention report was to be ordered due to a change in bail address.
Prosecutors opposed both boys’ bail, due to the severity of the offending, and out of concerns for the wider community.
“Bail is opposed due to the risks posed to the community,” prosecutors said.
Mr Koehn dismissed the 14-year-old’s bid for bail, remanding him in custody until his next appearance in October.
The 17-year-old will return to court next week.
Love Island winner Claudio Bonifazio took to Instagram after the incident to share the news with her 190,000 followers, and revealed the bar was not covered by insurance.
“(Dion) has put his heart, soul, sweat and tears and certainly a lot of money into this business,” she wrote in a post.
“The insurance ran out a few months ago and they were too busy to even think about insurance.”
