Arson — deliberately damaging Crown property — standard of proof — identity of offender. The defendant was charged with the arson of his former property at Woodville. The property had been seized from him under the asset forfeiture regime after he was convicted of using the property to grow cannabis. The defendant argued that it could not be proved beyond all reasonable doubt that he was the one who lit the fire. The Crown argued that the defendant had a grievance over the loss of his property, that he was in Woodville at the relevant time, and that the fire was deliberately lit; taken together, these three factors showed that it was the defendant who lit the fire. The Court assessed the evidence. There were several key strands of evidence. The defendant had contacted his power company some five months before the fire to request that power to the property be shut off as the house was soon to be demolished. The defendant accepted being in Woodville on the day of the fire - he lived in Gisborne at the time. Witness evidence placed him at the property shortly before the fire started. A fire investigator gave evidence that the fire was deliberately lit, although he could not be certain of the fire's origins. The Court found that, given all these factors, it was not credible that somebody else had lit the fire. The Court found that the charge was proved. Judgment Date: 28 March 2018.