Footscray factory fire: Man charged with murder over fatal blaze
Updated
Lawyers for a man charged with murdering three people in a factory fire in Melbourne's west have asked a court for a psychiatric assessment.
The fire broke out just before midnight on Wednesday in an abandoned factory in Footscray.
Police charged 52-year-old Darren Patrick Clover after he was arrested on Swanston Street in Melbourne's CBD on Thursday afternoon.
Three bodies were found inside the building after the blaze was put out. Police believe they were two men and a woman.
A handful of squatters are known to have been living in the old Kinnears rope factory.
The Delahey man was charged overnight with three counts of murder, three counts of arson causing death and arson.
He appeared at an out-of-sessions court hearing and remanded, before appearing again today.
Police alleged Clover deliberately set fire to a small room at the rear of the factory.
The identities of the victims were suppressed by the court as some of their relatives are yet to be notified.
The lawyer for Clover, Katie Powell, told the court the accused was at risk of self harm.
She asked Magistrate Elizabeth Lambden to order a psychiatric assessment.
The building is owned by developers who recently received approval to turn the site into apartments.
The factory is near Footscray City College, a secondary school, and the principal and police had previously tried to move the squatters on.
People have been squatting there for about two years.
The Maribyrnong City Council said it had also spoken to some people living there and directed them to housing support services.
Topics: crime, footscray-3011, melbourne-3000, vic
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