Accused Vic youths unfit for arson trial

SYDNEY (AAP) - Two Victorian teenagers accused of lighting a bushfire that killed a disabled man on Black Saturday have been found unfit to stand trial.
Kevin "Mick" Kane, 47, died in the Bendigo fire which caused $23.5 million damage to houses, farm land and machinery on February 7, 2009.
The accused teenagers, now aged 15 and 16, both suffer a mild to moderate intellectual disability and function at the level of eight- or nine-year-olds, the Victorian Supreme Court heard on Monday.
The jury returned a verdict of unfit to stand trial after considering evidence from a number of experts, who all agreed the youths, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were not fit to plead.
A psychologist told the brief trial that the youths' academic skills would never exceed the levels of grade five or six.
While the accused teenagers understood they had been charged, they could not grasp the judicial process, the psychologist said.
The crown prosecutor told the jury in closing that all the experts who interviewed the teenagers were unanimous in concluding that both youths were unfit to stand trial.
The jury's verdict means the teenagers will now face special hearings to determine whether or not they lit the fire, but they will not have to enter pleas.
The teenagers each face one count of arson causing death and intentionally or recklessly causing a bushfire over the blaze which killed Mr Kane at Long Gully, near Bendigo.