Rozelle fire: Accused arsonist and murderer Adeel Khan had massive debts, court told

Adeel Khan, 44, who still had four years left to run on the lease of the shop, was facing huge bills in the run-up to the blaze which killed three people.

ALMOST $400,000 in debt and with rent and bills ­overdue, Adeel Ahmad Khan was a financially desperate man when he lit a blaze that left three people dead, a jury was told yesterday.

On the opening day of the trial for the former proprietor of a Rozelle convenience store destroyed in September 2014, the state’s senior Crown prosecutor Mark Tedeschi QC outlined a case which he says will establish Khan acted “with reckless indifference to human life.”

The 44-year-old has pleaded not guilty to a string of charges, including the murders of 31-year-old ­mother Bianka O’Brien, her infant son Jude and 27-year-old Christopher Noble — who lived in apartments above the shop.

Adeel Khan taken from the Supreme Court yesterday afternoon / Picture: Dylan Robinson

The jury were told Khan, who still had four years left to run on the lease of the shop, was battling a debt of $373,000 “to various financial institutions”, plus energy bills of almost $10,000 and a $3000 bill to “grocery and ­tobacco suppliers.”

He was also three days overdue on his monthly rent of $8800, the court heard.

“Six out of the 10 months he had the shop, it operated at a loss, ”Mr Tedeschi said.

Rozelle fire victim Chris Noble (left) with brother Michael.

He took the jury through the days leading up to the fire, and said they would be played CCTV footage which showed Khan filling up four containers with a total of 38.8L of ­petrol, while appearing to be trying to hide from view.

The shop closed as normal at 11pm that night, and it is ­alleged by prosecutors that between that time and 4am, when the fire broke out, “the accused was in his shop ­setting up an elaborate ­system for destroying his shop by fire”.

Emergency services at the scene, the day after the Darling St explosion. Picture: John Appleyard

The site of the blast. Picture: John Appleyard

The jury heard that at 2.47am, Khan switched off most of the power to the store, which the Crown alleges was to avoid a spark igniting on an appliance.

“This shows he was aware of the risk of a catastrophic explosion,” Mr Tedeschi told the jury.

When the fire broke out, it is believed Mr Noble was ­unable to escape his bedroom, which had bars on the window and the door jammed by swelling.

Moments before he died, the jury heard he texted his mother: “I love you.”

Ms O’Brien’s body was found on top of her son’s, “who she had obviously tried to protect”.

The trial continues today before Justice Elizabeth ­Fullerton.

Fire victims Bianka O’Brien and her son Jude / Supplied