Accused arsonist is a loner, court told

February 7, 2009 started out like any other day for Brendan James Sokaluk.

In the morning, as Victoria began to swelter, Sokaluk picked his father up from his Churchill home and they headed into Morwell and Traralgon.

Sokaluk was a collector who liked to search for discarded goods such as old TVs and car bodies, which he turned into scrap metal.

Sometimes the hobby would take him into the bush, but this day, they cruised around the auto stores and hardware shops looking for bargains.

According to his lawyer, Sokaluk and his father purchased a TattsLotto ticket and had lunch at KFC.

As they drove back towards Churchill they watched a fire, unrelated to the one he would later be accused of starting, from the side of the road.

Sokaluk then dropped his father off at home, telling him he was going to visit a friend to get his chisel set back.

Later he was captured on CCTV going into a Churchill shop to buy cigarettes. The time given on his receipt is 1.16pm.

About 15 minutes later, Sokaluk was on the phone to triple zero reporting a fire getting big on Glendonald Road.

Days later, he was charged with lighting a fire that claimed 10 lives.

As Sokaluk stood trial in the Victorian Supreme Court on Monday, barrister Jane Dixon SC described her client as a loner who largely kept his own company and that of his little dog.

There were a few people who “tolerated” Sokaluk, she said.

Ms Dixon said Sokaluk, who has autism, is “uneven” in his presentation.

His job was delivering the local newspaper The Latrobe Valley Express, copies of which he transported in a converted pram.

He liked to garden and, like many Aussie blokes, “tinker” in his shed, Ms Dixon said.

“Except that in this case there is evidence that this particular Aussie bloke was overheard by neighbours while he was tinkering in his shed listening to Bob the Builder tapes and Thomas the Tank tapes,” she said.

Sokaluk has pleaded not guilty and his trial is continuing.

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