Security camera footage shows Loafers Lodge accused setting couch on fire

In CCTV footage shown to the High Court at Wellington, a man sets an object on fire and places it under a couch in the level three lounge at Loafers Lodge. Photo / NZ Police

By Kate Green of RNZ

The High Court at Wellington has been shown CCTV footage of a man setting fire to a couch inside Loafers Lodge on the evening it burned down.

A 50-year-old man, who has name suppression, is accused of murdering five people by setting the boarding house alight in May 2023.

The defence is expected to argue insanity.

In CCTV footage shown to the court on Friday afternoon, a man, who the Crown said is the defendant, sets an object on fire and places it under a couch in the level three lounge.

The court has already seen footage of two other residents putting out that fire by using items from a nearby kitchen to carry water, before retrieving a fire extinguisher.

The Crown said it was the first of two fires set that evening – the second would prove fatal.

In the footage, the man can be heard talking to himself as he walks down the stairs wearing a backpack before starting the fire.

Once lit, he loiters briefly before leaving the building via the lift just before 11pm.

The Crown understands it is not in dispute that the defendant lit the fires. The defence is expected to argue insanity.

– RNZ