An Australian fire investigator "with vast experience'' is the only defence witness in the trial of an Alexandra man accused of deliberately setting fire to his former workplace, more than two and a-half years ago. Aaron Gourlay (43) denies the arson of Wastebusters Recycling Centre on September 3, 2015. After evidence from the last 48 witnesses called by Crown counsel Craig Power, the jury was told Gourlay's defence was that "we have the wrong man''. A Crown witness, New Zealand specialist fire investigator Catherine Trevathan, gave evidence the Wastebusters blaze was caused by someone lighting newspaper and spray cans, doused with petrol, in a tyre under one corner of a portable office building. But she agreed with defence counsel Adriana Pinnock that, in hindsight, and from what she now knew, she probably would have called in an electrical specialist.

Source: Otago Daily Times March 19, 2018 16:31 UTC