One of the teenagers arrested in relation to the fire at Deniliquin High School on November 29 has entered a plea of not guilty in Children’s Court this week.
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Appearing in a closed court session at Deniliquin on Tuesday, the teen’s legal representative entered the plea on his behalf.
The case will progress with briefs of evidence due by February, followed by an April reply.
A plea has still not been entered for the second teenager.
His legal representative told the court she was unable to take instruction from her client on the matter before Tuesday’s mention.
An adjournment to February was granted.
Thirty classrooms, the school library and other staff and student spaces were destroyed by a fire which started at the school about 12.45am on Saturday, November 29.
In the days following, two teenagers were arrested and charged with alleged aggravated break and enter and destroy property by fire in company.
The same two teenagers were later also charged with a separate break-in and malicious damage at Deniliquin South School.
Work has been taking place at Deniliquin High School since late last year to ensure the site is ready for all students to return to campus from the first day of the 2026 school year, in early February.
Photo by
Rebecca Flisher
The delivery of and installation of temporary demountables is consistent, with at least 33 will be added to the site to be used as classrooms, bathrooms and staff areas.
Trucks will enter and exit via Junction St, with traffic control in place to ensure safety.
At the same time, work to secure and clean the fire damaged buildings is continuing.
This involves ongoing air monitoring and hygienist checks within the damaged areas, clearing and removal of damaged materials, structural support of key walls and floors, and further cleaning and decontamination.
Additional project details can be found at edu.nsw.link/DeniliquinHS-FireRecovery.
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