Police wait to press charges over Surry Hills blaze as cadaver dog begins search
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Police will wait for the outcome of a search for human remains inside a historic inner Sydney warehouse before pressing charges against four boys implicated in last month’s catastrophic fire, as they confirmed an accelerant was used in the blaze.
A police cadaver dog called Polar began its search on Monday following reports of up to 15 people sleeping rough in the building. Two people remain unaccounted for.
Senior constable David Jarnet with police dog Polar searching the Randle Street site in Surry Hills.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Detective Superintendent Martin Fileman said it would take Polar multiple days to thoroughly search the rubble of the buildings.
“Once the dog goes on and searches, they’ll then take the dog off, remove more rubble, until the dog searches the entire three buildings,” he said. “That process will go on for three days.”
Three boys aged 13 and a 12-year-old boy have now been questioned by police. Detective Superintendent Gordon Arbinja confirmed an accelerant had been used in the fire, but would not say what method was used.
He said police would wait until the cadaver dog had finished assessing the crime scene until determining what charges – if any – would be laid.
“The initial charges in relation to the fire would be malicious damage by fire, but that’s all I’d say at this stage. We just don’t know,” he said. “All I know that they [the two missing persons] were sleeping rough in that area amongst another 15 people.”
In NSW, the presumption of doli incapax requires the prosecution to prove that any child aged between 10 and 14 could not tell the difference between right and wrong.
“We need to determine that they knew right from wrong,” Arbinja said.
The three buildings destroyed in last month’s blaze have been demolished, but about 80 residents of nearby buildings still can’t access their homes.
Most residents of 38 Chalmers St have returned home, Fileman said, but residents across the road in 1-5 Randle Street may have to wait up to four weeks due to power issues.
“We need to make sure that these buildings are safe before we can allow people to go back in,” Fileman said.
The 110-year-old building, near Sydney’s Central Station, was due to be developed into a $38 million hotel with 123 rooms, two restaurants, a small bar and café.
Chalmers and Randle Streets remain closed between Cleveland and Elizabeth Streets as rubble is removed and police continue their investigations. Elizabeth Street is closed in a northbound direction.
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