Cairns fire: Woman at centre of Pacific Hotel quarantine blaze denied bail

A woman who allegedly set a fire under the bed of a Cairns quarantine hotel in an “extremely serious” arson offence that placed the lives of 163 guests in danger has been denied bail.

A WOMAN who allegedly set a fire under the bed of a Cairns quarantine hotel in an “extremely serious” arson offence that placed the lives of other guests in danger has been denied bail.

The fire at the Pacific Hotel in the Cairns CBD on Sunday triggered a full scale emergency response and the evacuation of 163 guests that now have been relocated at other isolation facilities in Cairns and the Gold Coast.

A 31-year-old Manoora woman has been charged with arson and wilful damage over a fire at the Pacific Hotel in Cairns.

Tessie Ann Merrypor appeared in a Cairns court on Tuesday after being accused of lighting a fire under a bed at the Pacific Hotel in Cairns.

It’s alleged Tessie Ann Merrypor, 31, while locked down with her two children aged 10 and 11, lit the fire to escape being “stuck in a box.”

In the Cairns Magistrates Court on Tuesday, police prosecutor Sgt Amy Rennie opposed a bail application presented by Ms Merrypor’s lawyer Joseph Rahim.

“One of the considerations is the risk posed to other members of the public, which in my submission, this offence certainly did it,” she said.

“Your Honour, this offence is an extremely serious example of arson in my submission.

“(She) is very likely to be convicted …(there’s a) very strong Crown case.”

The court heard Ms Merrypor laughed about the fire, showed little remorse and has failed to comply with the direction of authorities.

A distressed Ms Merrypor’s sister appeared in the public gallery and Magistrate Bevan Hughes allowed a conversation between the pair about custody of the defendant’s two children.

Emergency services respond to a fire in the top floor of the Pacific Hotel on Sunday.

Making a bail application Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service’s Mr Rahim told the court his client had no criminal history, a stable Cairns address and would be put at a legal disadvantage if remanded in custody at the Townsville Correctional Centre.

He proposed Ms Merrypor could serve out the remaining quarantine period at the Cairns watch house before being released, however the submission was shot down by Sgt Rennie.

“Quarantine in the watch house is just not doable. The watch house is not a quarantine hub … in my submission that would not be appropriate at all,” she told the court.

A firefighter at the end of a crane puts out the fire that broke out on the 11th floor of the Pacific Hotel on Sunday.

Magistrate Hughes denied bail based on an “unacceptable risk” of reoffending while serving out a remaining quarantine period and the potential “catastrophic” consequences of another hotel fire. 

“Because of the strength of the Crown case and the prospect of imprisonment, if convicted, I consider this risk outweighs any time in custody in the interim period,” he said.

“And I do not consider any conditions that could have been imposed upon you would reduce the risk to an acceptable level.”

Ms Merrypor’s case will be heard again at a committal mention on January 19, 2021.

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Originally published as Cairns fire: Woman at centre of Pacific Hotel quarantine blaze denied bail