Dunedin man Dion James Baker, 35, has been charged with burning a house to the ground in Elswick St in February 2024.
In Gore District Court yesterday, counsel Anne Stevens, appearing via video link, asked Judge Duncan Harvey to excuse the defendant’s non-appearance.
She also said she would be withdrawing as counsel as she had other commitments and her instructions indicated Baker was likely to defend the charge.
He was remanded without plea until his next appearance in January.
It was previously reported Waikaia woman Krystal Turnbull was driving home just after midnight on February 21, 2024, when she noticed the fire.
She said a car approached with its headlights on full beam, dipped them to pass, and only then did she notice the beginnings of a blaze.
A minute later, she could see how much it had spread and called 111.
At the time, Waikaia Station Officer Ray Dickson said there was not much left of the house, garage nor cars.
He said the house was owned by Garth Mann, who was living in a rest-home in Gore.
‘‘Garth was an avid collector of historical artefacts so there’s probably been a lot of stuff lost,’’ he said.
Days later, the police released a statement saying they were treating the fire as suspicious and sought information on two cars.
In May of this year they said they were ‘‘making progress’’ towards an arrest and sightings of a red two-door BMW were sought.
Baker was charged last month.
