A former volunteer Australian firefighter has been found guilty of starting a blaze that killed ten people in Victoria in 2009, one of the apocalyptic Black Saturday bushfires.
Brendan Sokaluk, 42, was found guilty of arson causing death over the fire on February 7, 2009, which he ignited on a dirt track in Churchill, in the West Gippsland region, 100 miles east of the Victorian capital of Melbourne.
The Churchill fire killed ten people, destroyed 156 homes and consumed 36,000 hectares of land. It was one of a series of up to 400 simultaneous fires which raged in extremely high, dry and windy conditions, destroying more than 2,000 homes and killing 173 people on what became known as Black Saturday, one of the worst natural disasters in Australia’s history.
Sokaluk did not react as the verdict was delivered in the Victorian Supreme Court in Melbourne earlier today. His conviction makes Sokaluk the state’s worst killer.
The month-long trial heard that Sokaluk, who has autism and a mild intellectual disability, had been seen in the area by witnesses but gave conflicting stories about his movements that day.
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The court was told that Sokaluk lit the fire in two points and when interviewed by police five days after the bushfire, admitted that he had started the blaze, but said it happened accidentally when cigarette ash dropped out his car window as he drove down a dirt track.
Sokaluk’s Holden sedan broke down on the road near where the fire started.
He told different people that on the day he had been in the area because he was on his way to a wedding, visiting a friend in the area, and helping a friend fight the fire.
Ray Elston, for the prosecution, had told the court that Sokaluk, a former volunteer with the Country Fire Authority in 1987-1988, told police during his interview: “I was smoking, and had a burnt bit fell off to the floor, so I used a bit of paper to pick it up. I didn’t properly so I squished it out sort of thing, and when I threw the paper on the road it ignited. I didn’t know, it was too late.”
He added: “I did a bad thing and I’m scared. . . s*** scared”.
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In her closing address, Sokaluk’s barrister Jane Dixon, SC, described Sokaluk as a simple man and a misfit. She said her client was not capable of telling a web of lies to police.
Ms Dixon told jurors that Sokaluk’s police record of interview, in which he was helpful, co-operative and straightforward with police, was the most important piece of evidence in the trial.
“This was no calculated, contrived account,” she said. “This was no contrived web of lies and deceit.”
Outside the court, Ms Dixon said Sokaluk was likely to appeal against the verdict.
Asked how Sokaluk was feeling, Ms Dixon replied: “Shattered of course. I think he’s a bit lost at the moment.”
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The Churchill fire took authorities 12 days to bring under control. The court heard evidence that temperatures on the day had reached 46.3C and were accompanied by strong winds of up to 70km/h.
In total, the Black Saturday fires left 173 people dead, destroyed more than 2,000 properties and burnt more than 4,500km² (450,000 hectares) of land across Victoria.
Sokaluk was remanded in custody and faces a maximum of 25 years in prison on each count. He will face a pre-sentence hearing on a date to be fixed.