Mark Peter Adams lit three fires because he was bored and ‘needed excitement’, jury told

A frustrated man caused millions of dollars worth of damage in North Adelaide after telling a support worker why he planned to do it, a court has heard.

Bored and unhappy because he could not afford cigarettes, a man lit three fires including one that caused at least $5m worth of damage to a medical building, a jury has heard.

Mark Peter Adams, 54, is standing trial in the District Court charged with three counts of arson over the three fires in North Adelaide in May 2020.

Mark Peter Adams during a jury scene visit in Ward Street, North Adelaide on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Kelly Barnes

Opening the trial, Patrick Mulvihill, prosecuting, said Mr Adams was a disability pensioner who recently moved into a Ward St lodge when he grumbled to a support worker that he could not afford more cigarettes.

He said Mr Adams then told the support worker: “I’m thinking of lighting a hedge fire, I’m bored. There’s nothing to do around here, I need some excitement.”

Mr Mulvihill said Mr Adams’ “spontaneous utterance” was “an ominous forewarning” of what occurred just a few hours later.

Soon after 1am on Wednesday, May 6, 2020, two blazes were reported on Ward St – one at AMA House and a second in a brush fence at the lodge where Mr Adams was living.

About 48 hours later, a third fire was ignited just a few hundred metres away at Cosmos Clinic on Archer St.

He said the AMA House fire caused upwards of $5m damage after spreading from wheelie bins in the underground car park through airconditioning vents to damage the building, equipment and patient records.

Mr Mulvihill said CCTV footage at around the time of the incidents showed Mr Adams - who walks with a distinctive gait after suffering a stroke in 2018 – in the vicinity of each of the fires around the time they started.

“The accused is captured on CCTV walking through this very area of North Adelaide at the time these two fires took place,” he said.

Alleged arsonist Mark Peter Adams during a jury scene visit in Ward Street, North Adelaide on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Kelly Barnes

He said Mr Adams had also told “anyone who would listen” including police, security and firefighters that he had seen four young men out on the street around the time of the fires.

But, the jury heard Mr Adams was the only person captured on CCTV around the times of those fires, and the third fire 48 hours later.

He said experts found each of the fires was deliberately lit, likely by a cigarette lighter.

James Marcus, for Mr Adams, told the court there was no dispute the fires had occurred and were deliberately lit, but the identity of the perpetrator would be an issue at trial.

The trial, before Judge Emily Telfer and a jury of five men and seven women, is continuing.