A man accused of setting fire to a heritage-listed racecourse grandstand before breaking into a Jewish community centre will remain behind bars after facing court.
Travis Bird, 51, appeared at Melbourne magistrates court on Wednesday after being charged with nine offences – four counts of arson, two of trespass and one each of burglary, criminal damage and theft.
The alleged arsonist was arrested at Mordialloc train station on Tuesday after a major blaze tore through Caulfield Racecourse’s Norman Robinson stand earlier that morning.
The grandstand is worth $1m, and Bird is accused of trespassing at the racecourse without authority or a lawful excuse, court documents show.
Racing fixtures were also disrupted, with a meet scheduled for Wednesday moved to Mornington.
Bird is also accused of breaking into the nearby Shtiebel community centre and damaging a door, setting fire to two bins and a tricycle worth $500, a bag and trailer worth $500 and stealing a letter valued at $1, according to court documents. He is further accused of lighting a blaze on grounds and another three grassfires at nearby Attenborough park.
He faced court wearing a grey T-shirt on Wednesday morning, flanked by custody officers, where he did not apply for bail.
His defence lawyer, Caitlin Blakeney, said Bird had a diagnosis of schizophrenia and asked for custody nurses to examine him and give him his medication. “I would ask that his mental health be monitored whilst he’s in custody,” she told the court.
Magistrate Vincenzo Caltabiano asked Bird to stand as he told him he would be remanded in custody, to appear back in court on 1 April.
Police on Tuesday said Bird once lived in the area of the fires, but it was many years ago and he had no known links to the racecourse or racing industry.
Dennis Smith, a Fire Rescue Victoria incident controller, said the fire caused significant damage to the stand and originated in a bar on the first level.
“I’m not a builder, but from what I’ve seen this morning the damage will be in the millions,” he said.
Melbourne Racing Club’s chair, John Kanga, assured members the grandstand would be rebuilt, with the extent of the full damage still being determined. The racecourse is in the middle of a $300m redevelopment, first announced in 2019, including works to the Norman Robinson stand.
In December, the MRC agreed to sell a $195m parcel of land at the site to Mount Scopus memorial college for the school to build a new campus. Melbourne Football Club also plans to build a training and administrative base at the racecourse by 2028.
Article by:Source Australian Associated Press
