71 year old man charged with starting eight fires in Oslo

Firetruck GjøvikFiretruck. Photo: Norway Today Media

A 71 year old will attend district court next week, charged with starting eight fires in Oslo.

 

The most serious of the accusations involves a fire at the Kværnerbyen in Oslo on the night of October 26th, 2015,where more than 60 people were evacuated when it began to burn in building where the accused man himself lived,Dagbladet newspaper reported.

“One or more people who were asleep in the building could easily have died if it had not been swiftly evacuated by residents,” reported the Oslo Attorney General in the indictment.

The man is also accused of having started fires in a petrol tanker,a container, and a passenger cars at Tøyen and Kampen on March 12, 2016, also setting a car fire at Rodeløkka on November 13, 2016, and fires in an urban courtyard, and a waste bin , all at Tøyen, on the night of 17th December, 2016.

The prosecutor believes the risk of recurrence is high, and considers custody, which in practice is not time-limited.

The man has now been in custody for approximately a year and a half.

“He denies punishment in the appeal, he denies having committed the acts,” said the 71 year old’s defence lawyer, Oscar Ihlebæk to Dagbladet newspaper.

According to TV 2, the man was convicted of multiple arson attacks in 1995.

 

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today