It wasn’t a lone firebug, says lawyers for alleged Adelaide Hills arsonist

A CFS veteran should be acquitted of an Adelaide Hills bushfires spree, his lawyers says - claiming the evidence doesn’t point to a lone firebug.

A 30-year CFS volunteer must be acquitted of lighting seven bushfires across the Adelaide Hills because the evidence does not prove they were set by the same firebug, a court has heard.

On Tuesday, counsel for Gregory John McGannon urged a District Court jury to find his client not guilty of causing the 2021 Cherry Gardens and Clarendon bushfires.

Chris Allen, for Mr McGannon, told jurors to “be careful about jumping to conclusions” and “use common sense” when assessing the evidence against his client.

He said that, if they did so, they would find prosecutors had failed to prove all of the fires were set by the same person.

“The prosecution used the word ‘firebug’,” he said.

CFS battle the Cherry Gardens bushfire from the ground. Picture: Alex Thomson

“Nobody in their right mind would countenance someone setting fire to parts of the Adelaide Hills, but you have to take a dispassionate view.

“If you have any feelings of dislike toward Mr McGannon because he’s charged with these offences, you have to put that to one side.

“He does not have to prove anything, and it’s my submission that you cannot eliminate the reasonable possibility that a person or persons other than Gregory John McGannon caused each of the fires.”

Mr McGannon, 63, of Hallett Cove, has pleaded not guilty to lighting the January 24, 2021 bushfires at Cherry Gardens and Clarendon, and to driving dangerously to escape police.

Prosecutors allege that, after lighting seven fires, he was caught with cigarette lighters, defaced licence plates and a blood alcohol reading of 0.145.

Since his arrest – during which he told police he spent “30 years in the CFS” – Mr McGannon has maintained he was trying to extinguish the fires, not light them.

In his closing address on Tuesday, Mr Allen said prosecutors had alleged each of the fires had common ignition points and locations near roadsides, pointing to a “pattern” of offending.

He suggested the evidence presented during the trial did not match that allegation, and had instead revealed “obvious differences” between each fire site.

“That means that the person that lit these fires changed their modus operandi - why would they do that?” he said.

“If one person is lighting all of these fires during the course of a couple of hours, then that person is changing their modus operandi.

“With respect, that’s unbelievable.”

The trial, before Judge Emily Telfer, continues.