ID :
195621
Mon, 07/18/2011 - 13:51
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Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/195621
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Man charged over PM school fire gets bail
One of two teenagers charged over a $1 million fire at the prime minister's old school in Adelaide has been granted bail.
Edward White, 18, appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday charged with arson and was remanded until a date in October.
A second teenager, aged 16, appeared in the Youth Court on similar charges and was remanded in custody while a home detention report is prepared.
Prosecutors alleged it was White who started the fire at the Unley High School on Friday morning.
The blaze gutted five transportable classrooms at the campus where Julia Gillard completed her secondary education in 1978.
The teenagers were arrested on Saturday as a result of information provided by the public.
Friday's blaze was the latest in a string of arson attacks on the school in recent months which has escalated from the setting fire to paper in some bins.
On Monday, with students still on school holidays, bulldozers were brought in to demolish what was left of the transportable classrooms.
School officials said the area would be redeveloped with plans already proposed to upgrade other nearby buildings which were in use when Ms Gillard was a student.
The PM recalled her Unley High School days during an address to the National Press Club last week, and she has previously said her prefect's tie is still one of her most prized possessions.