Legal win for man charged over FriendlyJordies arson attack

One of the men charged over an arson attack on the home of online personality FriendlyJordies has been granted bail.

A man who is alleged to have played a role in an arson attack on the home of online comedian FriendlyJordies has been released on bail after his lawyer attacked the case against him as “flimsy”.

The Bondi home of Jordan Shanks, better known as content creator FriendlyJordies, was burned in an arson attack in November 2022.

Mr Shanks was not home when his house in the eastern Sydney suburb of Bondi was burned on November 17 and then set alight again six days later.

Police previously described both attacks as deliberate and caused significant damage.

Andre Stepanyan, 38, in June became the second man charged when he was arrested at Parramatta Police Station.

He has been charged with destroying property in company using fire and participating in a criminal group.

Police have said it will be alleged Stepanyan drove a vehicle involved in the second arson attack and is a member of an outlaw motorcycle gang.

His solicitor Bianca Barnes told a court he had since “disassociated” from the outlaw motorcycle gang and was never a fully-patched member.

The Bondi home of Jordan Shanks aka FriendlyJordies was destroyed in an alleged arson attack. Source: YouTube.

Mr Stepanyan has been in custody on remand since his arrest and the matter is not expected to go to trial until October next year.

On Thursday he appeared before the NSW Supreme Court where he argued he should be released on bail, with Ms Barnes raising the prospect that he could spend over a year in custody on remand before the matter goes before a jury.

“The prosecution case is circumstantial but it is not a strong circumstantial case,” she said.

“There is enough to put my client travelling to and from the Bondi area from his area of residence at the time.

“There is no evidence to suggest there were any passengers inside my client’s car, there is no suggestion my client’s vehicle was in the vicinity of the Bondi area.”

The court was told it was alleged by the Crown that Mr Stepanyan drove to the area where another vehicle, a black Mercedes Benz, was parked.

However Ms Barnes said the Crown case to establish that was “flimsy at best”.

She said his car was alleged to have been captured on CCTV in the area.

But she said “you can barely make out the make and model of that vehicle” captured on the CCTV.

The court was told that data from mobile cell towers placed him in the area at the time.

The home suffered significant damage in the fire. Picture: NewsWire/David Swift.

The home was twice attacked in one week in November, 2022. Picture: NewsWire/David Swift.

His bail was opposed by the Crown however Justice Sarah McNaughton agreed to release him on conditional bail including that he be of good behaviour, report to police daily and abide by home detention.

He must also not go within a kilometre of the crime scene, not use encrypted apps and not enter any point of international departure.

Mr Stepanyan will return to court in November.

Originally published as Legal win for man charged over FriendlyJordies arson attack