A man charged after the inferno that destroyed the BP Bay View forecourt, canopy and two customers' cars earlier this year has pleaded not guilty.
Jonathan Patrick Atkinson, 44, whose address is listed on court documents as Otahuhu, Auckland, but who has been in custody since his arrest, is charged with endangering public safety by an act of criminal nuisance, for which the maximum penalty is 12 months' jail.
Appearing befor Judge Bridget Mackintosh in Napier District Court today, via audio-visual link from jail, Atkinson, through defence counsel Cara Thorburn, sought trial by judge-alone and was remanded in continued custody for a case-review on July 8.
The charge relates to a fire which erupted in the State Highway 2 station's forecourt mid-evening on Friday, January 15, after a man with a bucket of petrol approached women in a car beside the pumps asking for a lift.
