Man denies lighting bushfires
A man has denied lighting six fires, including five bushfires, on a summer's day in Midvale last year.
Scott Raymond Morris is on trial in the Supreme Court accused of setting fire to an old Chicken Treat building and lighting five bushfires in February last year.
Mr Morris was arrested after a passerby stopped him on the side of Roe Highway.
In his opening address, prosecutor Barry Murray said no one had seen Mr Morris light any of the fires but a number of witnesses noticed him acting suspiciously in the area.
"It comes down to a lot of people seeing little things," he said.
Mr Morris admits being in the area at the time but denies he was the person who was acting suspiciously.
Defence lawyer Simon Freitag told the court descriptions by witnesses of the man they spotted near the fire varied greatly.
Some said he was about 16-years-old while others said he was in his late 20s and descriptions of his skin colour varied from pale to dark.
"We accept somebody lit these fires," Mr Freitag said.
"We simply say it is not Mr Morris."
Witness Patrick Hinksman told the jury he first noticed flames when he was watching a man standing in bushes near his house on Beaconsfield Avenue.
He said he followed the man into the old Chicken Treat building and saw him standing in the middle of a fire.
"I thought he was going to get consumed," he said.
The trial continues.
