Remand without plea for man charged with setting Parliament grounds tent fire

Name: Video shows fire being spread by protesters at Parliament
Uploaded: 2022-03-03T11:49:14+13:00
Duration: 194 s
Description: New video shows the protesters adding to and then spreading the fire to other tents across the front lawn at Parliament. Video / Gerard Otto via facebook / Independent View via Facebook / Chantelle Baker via Facebook

By David Clarkson

Open Justice multimedia journalist, Christchurch ·NZ Herald·

21 Apr, 2022 10:44 PM2 mins to read

New video shows the protesters adding to and then spreading the fire to other tents across the front lawn at Parliament. Video / Gerard Otto via facebook / Independent View via Facebook / Chantelle Baker via Facebook

A man charged with setting fire to tents at the Parliament grounds protest has been remanded at an appearance at the Christchurch District Court.

Kieran Brent Lange-Crowley, 22, whose address is given as Petone, did not appear in court before a judge -- his case was dealt with at the court office by a registrar.

He was remanded on bail to May 13.

He has entered no plea to a charge that on March 2, he damaged tents by fire at Parliament grounds, when he should have known there was a danger to life.

March 2 was the final day of the protest when police moved against the occupiers and fires broke out.

Fire and Emergency NZ said it responded to a number of small fires which it alleged had been deliberately lit in the afternoon. A statement said: "The fires have been contained and there were no reports of injury. These actions put both protesters and emergency service staff at significant risk."