Jury considers verdict in hostel blaze case
A jury today began considering its verdict in the trial of a drifter charged with starting an Australian hostel fire that killed 15 young backpackers, including seven Britons and an Irish woman.
The Brisbane Supreme Court jury of seven women and five men will decide the fate of drifter Robert Long, an itinerant fruit picker, charged with starting the fire which tore through the Palace Backpackers Hostel in Childers on June 23, 2000.
He is also charged with the murder of Australian twins Kelly and Stacey Slarke, who died in the blaze in Childers, a farming community 190 miles north of Brisbane.
Two backpackers from the Netherlands, another Australian and one each from South Korea and Japan died along with the Britons and the Irishwoman.
Long, 38, who has denied all the charges, faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted.
Over 19 days, the court heard the evidence of more than 50 witnesses from around the world including backpackers who survived the blaze, forensic experts and police.
The Irish woman's name was Julie O’Keefe, 24, from Limerick.
