Micah Gilham in court charged with arson after $900k Goolwa house fire

Prosecutors will continue their case against a NSW teen accused of igniting a $900,000 blaze and burning down a Goolwa Beach house.

An arson charge will continue against a New South Wales teenager accused of a “silly mistake” on a friends’ reunion trip to Goolwa that ended with the destruction of an Airbnb home.

Micah Gilham, 19, was excused from appearing in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Tuesday and, instead, heard his matter by phone.

He allegedly set a golf club on fire – before accidentally igniting a nearby petrol can inside a beach house garage, destroying the $900,000 Goolwa South property.

In front of Magistrate Brian Nitschke, prosecutors confirmed they were proceeding with one count of arson – to which Mr Gilham is yet to enter a plea.

Mr Gilham at his graduation ceremony. Picture: Facebook

A court heard that, on Tuesday, November 26, Mr Gilham and his friends were staying at a rented holiday home on Bristow-Smith Ave, owned by a grandfather of one of the party.

A police prosecutor previously told a court Mr Gilham “wanted to set fire to a golf club and swing it across the sand dunes”.

However, the petrol can he was allegedly using in the garage then caught fire.

The house was gutted following the blaze. Picture: 7NEWS

Nine firefighting crews worked to tackle the fire. Picture: 7NEWS

“In an act to try and put that out, it’s been spilt and has spread further causing the total destruction of the house … it’s accepted that this was a very silly mistake,” the prosecutor said.

After the alarm was raised at 11.30pm, it took nine firefighting crews to put out the blaze which gutted the property.

Neighbour Margaret Randall, 67, said one of the teens staying at the property frantically knocked on her door soon after the fire took hold, alerting her to the inferno.

The occupants of the house evacuated when the fire began and no injuries were reported.

A burnt golf ball was located in a nearby property next to the house fire. Picture: Ben Clark

The four-bedroom Airbnb property was advertised at $250 a night, complete with a pool room, and was fully booked until January.

The holiday home looks out over a vacant block at the end of a cul-de-sac that neighbours the popular South Lakes Golf Club.

In December last year, the Advertiser contacted Mr Gilham’s lawyer Travis Moran, asking questions about a public video in which Mr Gilham was preaching to a NSW Christadelphian congregation. Thirty minutes later, the video had been removed from the public domain.

Posted to YouTube in August 2024, Mr Gilham is seen leading a Sunday evening Bible study class at the Riverwood Christadelphian Ecclesia.

The video has since been deleted. Picture: YouTube

Titled the “Promise of Noah”, a fresh faced Mr Gilham draws parallels between the modern world and the world that preceded the destruction of humanity just prior to the Great Flood.

Belonging to a millenarian Christian group, Mr Gilham also makes references to contemporary events believed to be a signal of the End Times.

On Tuesday, Mr Nitschke adjourned the matter and remanded Mr Gilham on continuing bail to appear in court in July to answer the charge.

He will be required to appear in person.

Originally published as Micah Gilham in court charged with arson after $900k Goolwa house fire