Adam Troy Parker: Wedding guest found guilty of burning down home

A wedding guest has been convicted of assaulting revellers before burning down a home in southwest Victoria, causing $200,000 in damage.

A wedding guest who went off-the-rails while partying and burned down a home in southwest Victoria has been found guilty after a lengthy trial.

Jurors returned a guilty verdict on charges of arson, reckless conduct endangering life and two counts of assault against Adam Troy Parker, 43 in the County Court on Thursday.

The trial, which ran over six days, was beset by challenges after a Covid-scare and missing witness forced repeated delays.

Prosecutor Angela Moran told the jury the incident unfolded on New Year’s Eve in 2020, when Parker returned to Warrnambool for a wedding.

He joined three other guests after the wedding, another man and two women, travelling to a home to “continue celebrating”.

Parker and the other man, 31, left to purchase alcohol and when they returned a “verbal dispute” broke out.

“During this dispute, Mr Parker struck him in the face a number of times,” Ms Moran said.

Later that night, the prosecution argued Mr Parker continued to be disruptive, striking the man again after accusing him of stealing alcohol and punching the home’s resident when she tried to “diffuse” the situation.

Ms Moran told the court she demanded he leave the house or she’d call the police, hearing him say in response: “f--- that b---- if she wants to dog I’ll burn the house down”.

Another person at the party reported to police they heard Mr Parker later say: “I will f------ kill you all, I’ll burn this place down”.

The jury heard the home’s resident ran to a friend’s house nearby to call triple-0, while the two other guests “hid” in a caravan parked outside the property.

From there they saw smoke coming from inside the house and fled to a hotel.

The home’s resident saw firetrucks racing past her friend’s house, returning home to find the place alight.

In the ensuing blaze, the prosecution says the home and its contents were destroyed causing an estimated $200,000 in damage.

A forensic examination found there were two ignition points inside the home, with no evidence of any accelerant used.

“The examination found the likely cause was a match or cigarette butt,” Ms Moran said, arguing that the fire placed two lives at risk.

Parker’s lawyer, Rohan Barton had argued that the fire was “inexcusable”, but claimed his client was not responsible for it.

“Noone saw the fire being lit, none of the CCTV cameras captured anything. You must have some doubt and that‘s reasonable,” he said.

On Thursday, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on four charges, which carry a maximum penalty of 15-years imprisonment.

Parker will return to court on July 12 for sentencing.