A PRIMARY school teacher who set fire to grass and scrub at Mungabareena has been ordered to wear clothes after allegedly getting around naked in public.
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Glenroy Public School teacher Bruce Robert Arnott, 62, started the fire at the reserve on Friday, only hours after being released on bail for public nudity related matters.
He had been charged with drink-driving on Doctors Point Road on Thursday and behaving in an offensive manner in or near a public place.
Arnott also allegedly wilfully and obscenely exposed himself in view of the Northside Hotel on Wednesday afternoon.
The legalities of being naked in public will be debated in court.
The teacher snickered as magistrate Rodney Brender discussed the law on Friday morning.
“If he thinks it’s legal to walk around naked, maybe I should make it a condition of his bail that he doesn’t do it,” the magistrate said.
“He’s got to wear clothes I think … I think that’s the law.
“If he needs to be naked, it needs to be not in a public place.”
Mr Brender said the law would be discussed at a hearing.
“At some point, I have to refuse bail if it continues,” he warned Arnott.
“If you need to be naked, you need to do it in your property, wherever that may be.”
The court heard the homeless 62-year-old had recently undergone surgery and easily became hot.
He was released on bail early on Friday and was again in custody by about 5pm after lighting the fire.
The arrest was the third time he was taken into police custody in a 48-hour period.
ALSO FROM COURT:
Albury Local Court on Monday heard he had been burning rubbish at his campsite when the fire spread, with police raising concerns about his ability to comply with the law.
He has also breached an intervention order taken out against him by his former partner, by twice attending her Norris Park home.
“The accused appears to have a total disregard for the bail conditions and AVO conditions imposed on him by police and the court, and police fear that he will continue to offend,” the court heard.
Arnott, who was taken to jail in Junee after his latest arrest, was again released on bail by magistrate Imad Abdul-Karim.
He will return to court on February 25.
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