A trial has heard a couple was responsible for lighting two separate fires in the tinder-dry Tasman region during a complete fire ban.
Benjamin Durrant and Abigail Page are accused of lighting a fire on the side of Moutere Highway in late February last year, three weeks after a huge blaze started in Pigeon Valley.
They are also accused of lighting another fire on Pigeon Valley Road in early March.
Jonathan Mitchell has been in the High Court in Wellington.
