Arson accused 'got up on wrong side of bed'

Fraser Herewini

A 14-hour, 15-fire arson spree was the culmination of a really bad day for Auckland man Fraser Herewini, a district court jury heard yesterday.

The 38-year-old painter is on trial in the Auckland District Court charged with six counts of arson and nine of damaging property by fire after he allegedly spent the night of July 15, 2003 lighting blazes around the central city.

He denies the allegations.

Herewini's day began badly when he "got out on the wrong side of the bed", and deteriorated to a point where he deliberately crashed into a New Lynn motorist, Crown prosecutor Todd Simmonds told the court.

In video-taped evidence yet to be heard, Herewini will describe July 15, 2003, as "a bummer of a day", a "rat**** day" and "the worst day ever".

The problems of Herewini's morning and early afternoon were not recounted in court, but Mr Simmonds told the jury of an incident involving "deliberate driving" on the part of the accused about 4.30pm that day.

He rammed a woman driver several times, shunting her around a roundabout "like dodgems", he said.

Later, when spoken to by police, Herewini said he had become annoyed when the woman gave him the fingers.

He said she was lucky he had not run her into a lamp post, the court heard.

Police will later give evidence of Herewini's "poor attitude" during subsequent interviews.

Herewini's mood at the time was "hardly what you would describe as rosy', jurors were told.

The accused left Auckland Central Police Station for the final time about 8.40pm, and immediately set about lighting fires, the Crown alleges.

His first target was a car parked on the corner of Mayoral Drive and Greys Avenue. From there he proceeded to the Auckland University of Technology where he allegedly set fire to a sofa.

He allegedly set more fires, in skip bins, post boxes, storage sheds and buildings around downtown Auckland.

Twenty fire appliances and 70 fire crew were called to the most serious blaze, which caused damage estimated at $2 million to the Guardian Trust Building on Queen St.

The final fire - at the Sofrana Building on the corner of Customs and Galway Sts - was discovered and extinguished about 11am next day.

However, the Crown says Herewini had set the fire hours earlier, before departing the central city by bus.

Surveillance camera footage - places Herewini in the vicinity of the fires, with one camera catching a man dressed the same as the accused lighting a fire near the corner of Vulcan Lane and High St.

More than 50 Crown witnesses are expected to be called in the trial. It is not known if Herewini - represented by Kahungunu Barron-Afeaki and David Niven - will call evidence in his own defence.

The trial, presided over by Judge Graham Hubble, is set down for four weeks.