A man has been charged after a series of fires at a building housing the legal practice of solicitor Stephen Adrianakis, a prominent solicitor who acted for a number of controversial figures, including drugs baron Tony Mokbel.
Emergency services from the police and fire brigade were called to the Lansdowne St property near Victoria Parade early on Sunday morning after reports of a fire with rubbish alight near a doorway. A Victoria Police spokeswoman said the practice “suffered moderate damage”, and that this was the third fire at the premises since late November. Police say the fires are linked.
A spokeswoman for Fire Rescue Victoria said “crews arrived on the scene in less than five minutes and extinguished a fire that had taken hold of rubbish near a door and under a balcony”.
Ashley Parsons, 47, whom Mr Adrianakis described as a homeless man who lives in the laneway, was arrested and charged with three counts of criminal damage by fire, two counts of reckless conduct endangering life and three counts of committing an indictable offence while on bail.
Mr Parsons will front Melbourne Magistrates Court on 22 December.
