Kevin Rodney Jones: Firebug admits drunkenly lighting blazes near homes, childcare centre in Ellenbrook

A 57-year-old man has admitted drunkenly setting fires near homes and an early learning centre in Perth’s northeast. Kevin Rodney Jones was due to stand trial in the District Court of WA on Tuesday, charged with six counts of wilfully lit fire likely to injure or damage. But in last minute negotiations, he pleaded guilty to two counts, four were discontinued and the trial was vacated. Judge Mark Herron was told Jones deliberately started both blazes within the space of about half an hour on a summer night in January last year in Ellenbrook. The fire on Gippsland Way died out on its own, while the other across from Malvern Springs Early Learning on Wyara Link grew so large it had to be extinguished by firefighters. Jones was captured igniting both on CCTV and was swiftly arrested, with police finding lighters in his backpack. He was too drunk to be interviewed, the court was told. When he fronted court for the first time the next day, one of the fires reignited — forcing emergency services to rush back to Ellenbrook. The prosecutor called for an immediate term of imprisonment, while his defence counsel asked Judge Herron to consider a suspended term. His lawyer secured an adjournment until October 31, saying she needed time to commission a psychiatric report. She said the last time Jones was assessed for sentencing in the Supreme Court in 2015 on a criminal damage by fire charge - after he set curtains in a house alight - significant cognitive difficulties were identified. Jones, who is on a disability support pension and lives in Cloverdale when not in South Hedland, had his bail renewed.