Kings Cross fatal arsonist Gregory Allan Brown back in court on perverting justice charge
A Huonville man, who served 19 years in a NSW jail for causing the deaths of six backpackers in a Kings Cross hostel fire in the 1980s, has appeared in a Hobart courtroom on a new charge.
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A Huonville man, who served 19 years in a NSW jail for causing the deaths of six backpackers in a Kings Cross hostel fire in the 1980s, has appeared in a Hobart courtroom on a new charge.
Gregory Allan Brown, 62, who moved to Tasmania after being released from jail 15 years ago, was convicted in the Supreme Court of Tasmania in 2022 of attempting to involve a person under 18 years in the production of child exploitation material.
The arsonist had contacted a girl on Facebook messenger, asking her to send him intimate photos of herself, and telling her to “trust him”.
Brown was given a wholly suspended 12-month prison sentence for that crime with his name added to Tasmania’s sex offenders’ register for five years, but was not required to return to jail.
But after the Australian newspaper published a story last year in which a “trio of experts” alleged that Brown had lied during his bid to get a more lenient sentence – including claims that he’d been present when his wife died in a car crash, and that he was estranged from his daughter – the notorious firebug was charged with one count of perverting justice.
Three people told the Australian that Brown’s claims were “bullshit” – that the car accident had never happened, Brown was not married, and had never had children.
According to court documents, Brown allegedly perverted justice between May 12 and December 2, 2022, by “providing information for use in the Supreme Court of Tasmania, knowing it to be false with the intent to secure a lenient sentence”.
On Tuesday morning, Brown appeared in the Hobart Magistrates Court, where defence lawyer Monica McShane asked Magistrate Reg Marron for the case to be adjourned while she sought a medical report for her client.
Magistrate Marron adjourned Brown’s case until 17 September, and directed the defendant to enter a plea on that day.
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