Detective Acting Superintendent Richard Puffett speaks after a Cessnock volunteer firefighter was charged with 15 bushfire arson offences in the Hunter region. Video by NSW Police
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00:00 My name is Detective Acting Superintendent Richard Puffett of the
00:04 Financial Crime Squad. I'm here today to discuss some developments in relation to
00:09 Strike Force Toronto and the arrest and charging of a 18 year old from Cessnock
00:16 yesterday who's appearing before the Maitland local court this morning. He has
00:22 been charged with 15 bushfire related arson offences after a lengthy and
00:28 tenacious investigation. Happy to take questions and discuss our general Strike
00:35 Force Toronto initiatives for the year.
00:38 We're still exploring the the motives behind the the offending that we allege
00:47 took place over some weeks and it is before the court so I'll let that pan
00:52 out. Responded? Yes he is attached to a volunteer fire agency and he has been
01:05 involved in the fighting of those fires following the ignitions.
01:11 In July and August there's been a lot of talk about grass fires in particular being a threat over summer. Already we've seen one person with corner. What's your message to other people who might be considering something like this?
01:24 Yes we're extremely concerned that the season that is approaching will be busier,
01:32 will be hotter and more extreme than the previous two seasons have been quite wet.
01:38 So we implore members of the public to call out any suspicious activity in
01:46 bushland whether that be vehicles or persons that don't appear to be having a
01:54 purpose or being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Please call us to
02:00 investigate these these occurrences. Again I like to just implore on people
02:08 that may be silly enough to be engaging in bushfire ignitions that we are
02:14 following you, we are watching, we are following a number of leads at the
02:19 moment in relation to these type of offences. There's every chance that we're
02:24 watching now. Do you think he acted alone? We're investigating whether some of the
02:30 offences were in company and that's still under investigation.
02:36 Being from financial crimes, is there an element of money behind it?
02:40 Sorry can you repeat that one more time?
02:42 Just in terms of being from financial crimes, is money attached to it? In terms of I don't know, was it I guess insurance?
02:52 No we don't believe this is a arson for profit type offence and you don't often see that in the bushfire space.
02:59 That's more a structural thing. I just want to also thank the Rural Fire Service who we engage on a regular basis and assist us with these investigations.
03:10 They're always very proactive in assisting us identify and and prosecute offenders that may be attached to their organisation.
03:22 What can you tell us about the damages, two of the charges of destroying property, was there something that was damaged by someone?
03:29 Yeah we're alleging a vehicle was subject to one of the offences and also a whole bunch of tyres.
03:38 But again I just want to impress upon the community that we really need their assistance to help us identify people that are in a position
03:51 to think that it's okay to light these fires and that they can have catastrophic consequences.
03:59 So please come forward with that information even if you think it's small and minute we will act on it.
04:07 He's quite young, how long has he been with the RFS for?
04:11 We're still looking at that again that will come out in the fullness of the court process but he has been a member.
04:19 We're coming up to warmer weather, would you hope that he would be refused bail by the courts?
04:25 Again I'll let the court decide, you know that's their role to decide the bail situation.
04:31 But I would imagine the offending that we're alleging you know is of the of the higher scale and of a serious nature.
04:41 Okay, any further questions?
04:44 Thanks guys.