Five men who died at Wellington’s Loafers Lodge would have likely had the opportunity to escape the blaze if fire safety systems were working properly, a court has heard as the second trial into the tragedy opened in Wellington's High Court today.
By James Fleury and Reuben Smith
Michael Wahrlich, also known as Mike the Juggler, 67; Melvin Parun, 68; Kenneth Barnard, 67; Peter O’Sullivan, 64; and Liam Hockings, 50 died when a fire was lit at the Newtown hostel on May 16, 2023.
Esarona Lologa was found guilty of arson and murder and sentenced to life in prison last December.
On Monday, hostel director Gregory Mein, property manager Marie Murphy, fire warden and resident Glenn McAllister, and another resident who worked on site, Barry Collins, appeared in court, each facing 10 charges of manslaughter.
They have all pleaded not guilty.
The Crown's opening address was heard by a jury of five men and seven women.
Crown prosecutor Stephanie Bishop told the court the trial relates to the fire safety systems and those responsible to manage and oversee its safe operation.
"The Crown says that this is a case of layers of failings of management and those who held a quasi-management and fire warden role," Bishop said.
“Ultimately, the Crown says that if the building's fire safety system was working as it should have been, the five residents who died would have had the opportunity to escape and would have likely survived."
The jury heard that the alarm had been silenced on the night of the fire due to an earlier arson attempt and that residents were often paid to reset alarms instead of independently qualified technicians.
“Because the alarm had been silenced after the first fire and had not been reset, the alarm on level three did not sound. That meant that the fire could continue to grow without warning to those around and above it,” Bishop said.
She said it took 13 minutes for the fire alarm to activate, at 12.25am.
“When it did, the alarm sounded only on the lower floors," she said.
“Five men had been trapped on the mezzanine floor and tragically lost their lives."
The defence will begin their opening statements tomorrow.
The trial is expected to last eight weeks.
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