A High Court trial has begun today for two people accused of deliberately lighting fires near Nelson in February last year, while firefighters were still trying to put out the major Pigeon Valley forest fire.
Benjamin Durrant and a 25-year-old woman, who has name suppression, are jointly charged with setting vegetation alight on two separate occasions at a time of heightened fire risk in the region.
They deny the charges and the case is being heard by a jury in the High Court at Wellington.
If found guilty, they could each face up to 14 years in prison.
The Crown alleges the pair were responsible for a blaze that started on the side of the Moutere Highway on February 27, 2019, just hours after a state of emergency was lifted in Nelson and Tasman.
All residents in the Redwood Valley were evacuated until the fire was brought under control and a significant area of bush and pine plantation was destroyed.
The Crown alleges that one week later, the pair lit another fire in a heavily forested area assessed as an extreme fire risk. Forestry workers alerted police and blocked the road with their vehicles. The defendants were eventually arrested after attempting to drive through a dry river bed.
The trial is set down for two weeks.
SHARE ME