Hostel arson attack 'threat'

The burned-out hostel where 15 people died

The man accused of starting a fire which killed 15 backpackers - including two from south Wales - had threatened to burn down the building weeks earlier, a court has been told.

Aaron Ellmers, who was staying at the hostel, told a committal hearing in Brisbane, Australia, that 37-year-old Robert Long's attitude to fellow travellers changed about a month before the fire.

Robert Long - accused of murder and arson

Mr Long, an itinerant fruit picker, faces charges of murder and arson following the fire last June at the Backpackers' Palace in Childers, Queensland, Australia.

Mr Ellmers told the court that he recalled Mr Long had said: "I've had enough of this place, I should just burn the place down with all you in it."

He is the latest witness at the committal hearing of itinerant fruit picker Mr Long which will determine whether or not he faces trial for murder and arson.

Now in into its second week, magistrates have been told that Long was seen pouring an unidentified liquid into a waste paper bin just hours before the inferno.

Cell-mates of the accused man also said that he had confessed to starting the fire after blocking exits from the 90-bedroom hostel.

Natalie Morris - one of the victims of the blaze

Among those who died were two friends from Wales - Natalie Morris, 28, from Cefn Coed, and Sarah Williams, 22, from Aberfan - died in the blaze along with four other Britons.

Four other Britons, an Irish national, four Australians, two Dutch, a South Korean, and a Japanese traveller also died.

An American criminologist John de Haan told the court the their deaths were as a result of a blaze started deliberately - most likely by a match, lighter or other open flame.

"The condition of the furniture and the type of the furniture was such that an open flame source, such as a match, a lighter or a candle would be necessary to bring about rapid ignition," he said.

Mr Long has not yet been required to enter a plea.

The hearing continues.