Gregory John McGannon on trial for alleged arson in January 2021 Adelaide Hills bushfires

Prosecutors allege this man drunkenly lit seven Adelaide Hills bushfires on a 37C day – but he says he’s not guilty. See the map shown to the jury of his alleged movements.

Gregory John McGannon is standing trial on charges including seven counts of causing a bushfire. Picture: Facebook

A drunk man allegedly lit six Adelaide Hills bushfires on a 37-degree day and, when police caught him at the ignition point of a seventh, claimed he “saw the bastard that lit it” and had “tried to tap it out”, a court has heard.

On Wednesday, a District Court jury was asked to find Gregory John McGannon guilty of setting the January 24, 2021, bushfires at Cherry Gardens and Clarendon.

Mr McGannon, 63, of Hallett Cove, has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of causing a bushfire.

He has also pleaded not guilty to one aggravated count of driving dangerously to escape a police pursuit.

Opening the trial, prosecutor Kos Lesses said Mr McGannon was caught with two cigarette lighters, two bottles of wine and a half-full glass, defaced number plates and a blood alcohol reading of 0.145.

He said expert fire analysis, mobile phone tracking, soil analysis and a chain of CCTV footage would prove Mr McGannon’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Gregory McGannon’s alleged movements that day

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CFS crews attending the Cherry Gardens bushfire in January 2021. Picture: Brittany Norris/CFS

There were no eyewitnesses to the lighting of the fires, he said – except for the final blaze.

“Two police officers had been tasked to attend a report of another fire and, as they came around a bend, saw Mr McGannon parked on the side of the road,” he said.

“They saw Mr McGannon quickly getting into the driver’s side and, moments later, flames (near) the passenger side about 1m in height … there were no other persons or cars around.

“After his arrest and, from the outset, Mr McGannon told police that he ‘saw the bastard that lit it’ and he ‘tried to tap it out’ because he ‘saw somebody light it’.”

Mr Lesses told the jury of nine women and four men that January 24, 2021 was a 37-degree day upon which a total fire ban had been declared.

CCTV footage, he said, showed Mr McGannon drinking at the Esplanade Hotel at Brighton at 2.15pm, then driving away in his mother’s white Hyundai.

He said Mr McGannon was recorded buying alcohol at Hallett Cove at 3.20pm, then driving past Hills businesses at 4.09pm – minutes before the first of the seven fires started.

Mr Lesses said other cameras captured the Hyundai near other fire ignition points, as well as Mr McGannon’s visit to the Royal Oak Hotel, Clarendon, “to get ice”.

A neighbouring resident, he said, also photographed Mr McGannon at 6.03pm – “just a minute or two” before the final fire, which was witnessed by police.

Mr Lesses said tracing of Mr McGannon’s mobile phone – registered in his mother’s name – showed it had been “constantly on the move” throughout the fire area.

Soil taken from the wheels of his mother’s car, he said, was “virtually identical in origin” to the fire sites which, an expert had concluded, were similar to one another.

Prosecutors allege Mr McGannon set all of the fires that burned at Cherry Gardens, Clarendon and other locations on the day. Picture: Brenton. Edwards

“The prosecution case is that Mr McGannon and his cigarette lighter were the ignition sources at each fire location,” he said.

“The similar location and consistency (of the fires) is not a product of mere chance or coincidence – rather, they are the work and pattern of a single arsonist.

“The prosecution case in a single line is that Mr McGannon, in an intoxicated state and during a day of extreme fire danger, drove around to several different locations and caused bushfires.”

He told the jury that, once spotted by police, Mr McGannon drove at 80km/h and dangerously overtook three cars in a failed attempt to escape pursuit.

Prosecutors allege Mr McGannon was intoxicated at the time of his offending.

Mr McGannon, who has pleaded not guilty, told police he “saw the bastard that lit” the fires and was trying to extinguish them.

“When he was arrested, he was only wearing shorts and thongs, and had a black cigarette lighter in his pocket,” he said.

“In the car’s centre console was a wine glass, half-full, and there were two wine bottles in the car – one in the footwell, one on the passenger’s seat.

“The number plates of the car appeared to have been marked in with black texta … officers located a black texta and another cigarette lighter in the boot.

“Later, at the Christies Beach Police Station, Mr McGannon blew 0.145.”

Christopher Allen, for Mr McGannon, told jurors there would be no dispute fires had been lit that day, nor that his client had “recorded a blood alcohol reading of over 0.08”.

However, he said the rest of the prosecution’s allegations – particularly the identity of the arsonist – would be disputed.

The trial, before Judge Emily Telfer, is scheduled for four weeks.