Woman faces Kaitaia arson charges

A woman who police believe to be the firebug who has terrorised Kaitaia for more than a year appeared in court yesterday on 20 arson charges.

Lee van Haaren, aged 42, entered no plea to the charges in the Kaitaia District Court yesterday.

Van Haaren was arrested by police last Friday on a minor drugs charge - a move which later resulted in her being charged the following day with trying to set fire to the Far North District Council service centre building in Kaitaia on February 24.

She appeared in court again yesterday, facing 20 new charges relating to fires lit in the town between March last year and May 19.

A total of 25 suspicious fires were reported in Kaitaia within that time but four of these, all last year, are not considered by police to be linked to those under investigation.

Van Haaren was denied bail by Judge Tim Druce, who also refused to suppress her name.

She was remanded in custody for a psychiatric assessment and will appear in the Kaitaia court again on June 22.

Van Haaren, a small woman with blonde hair, wore a white, long-sleeved top and dark sleeveless jacket when she appeared in court.

She appeared to have no family members or supporters in the courtroom.

Her lawyer, Catherine Cull, suggested that a bail condition could include a ban on van Haaren entering Kaitaia town.

Police Sergeant Mathew Tailby opposed bail because of van Haaren's lack of fixed address, admissions that he said had been made in three cases, the huge number of alleged offences over a lengthy time and the degree of premeditation.

The judge said there was an unacceptable risk of van Haaren re-offending and a concern that she might not answer to bail because of her "transient lifestyle".

He said he did not see how police could monitor any bail terms considering where the defendant was living.

Judge Druce was told that van Haaren had a "permanent address" in a caravan in the Takahue Saddle, Broadwood - an isolated and remote hilly area about 25km southeast of Kaitaia.

She is understood to have lived in the Kaitaia area for about three years after coming north from the Waikato.

The 21 suspicious fires involved in the charges include the two biggest to hit the town.

One gutted the Kaitaia Art Centre, an old wooden villa, on the night of February 13.

Another fierce blaze destroyed two rooms and damaged two more in the infant block at Kaitaia Primary School on April 16, causing $235,000 of damage.

Fires were also lit at the council service centre building (twice), the town's main community hall, a church hall, shops and in business premises - mainly in the early hours of the morning.

No one was hurt in the fires but an estimated $400,000 of damaged was caused.