Alleged arsonist 'lit fire as SOS' while bushwalking in South Australia

An alleged arsonist started a bushfire when he became trapped in blackberry vines and "reverted" to his boy scout training to signal for help, a court has been told. Lawyers for Charles John Adam, 63, of Parkside, told Adelaide's District Court he had become trapped in the foliage and panicked - triggering "irrational thinking and psychosis". During a trial to establish Adam's mental competence at the time of the alleged offence, Jayne Basheer, for Adam, said her client suffered from bipolar affected disorder and suffered periods of psychosis.

She said Adam had been stressed and made the "unusual" decision to go for a bushwalk in the Adelaide Hills on a hot day in March last year. When he became stuck, instead of using a working mobile phone to seek help, Adam instead decided to light a signal fire - as he had been trained to do as a boy in the UK. "Because of his upbringing in a country different to this, that does not make it unreasonable or at least probable that being in this situation of being trapped in blackberries and being unable to escape he reverted to ths impulse of lighting a fire to get attention," Ms Basheer said.



She said her client had been "unable to evaluate his actions of their consequences" at the time because his thinking was affected by his psychosis. She said that psychosis could have been triggered by stressors including the heat and panic. The court has previously heard Adam was rescued by Country Fire Service volunteers and a police officer, who disentangled the man from a blackberry bush and dragged him to safety in a burnt-out area.

The court today heard his rescuers had described him as "exhausted, confused and showing signs of dehydration". The blaze burnt about 5ha at Englebrecht Reserve at Bridgewater after it was ignited on March 29. Emergency services at the time reported six aircraft, including water bombers and rescue aircraft provided aerial support to 221 firefighters over three days. The trial will continue in March next year.