An alleged arsonist has been sent to hospital for a mental health assessment following a "somewhat inexplicable" fire that partially destroyed a townhouse complex in Canberra's inner north.
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Emergency services began receiving triple zero calls a few minutes after midnight on Saturday morning, alerting them to yelling and screaming, then a blaze, on Moorhouse Street in O'Connor.
A man who made one of the calls hung up on the ACT Ambulance Service after saying he had burnt a house down, according to police documents tendered in court.
Police, firefighters and paramedics raced to the scene, finding three townhouses in a two-storey complex "well alight".
No one was inside, but a number of people who had congregated outside were treated for smoke inhalation.
Police officers spoke to one of the complex's residents, who is said to have told them he and his brother had heard neighbours shouting at a man moments after the fire started.
He said his brother had approached and asked this man, "Did you do it?", and the man replied, "Yeah, I did it."
Police arrested the man in question, who had remained at the scene.
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The 35-year-old man subsequently appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court over the phone from the police watch house just after 9am, when he was formally charged with arson.
Lawyers for both he and the prosecution recommended that Magistrate Robert Cook refer the man for a mental health assessment.
A prosecutor said material before the court indicated the man suffered from depression, anxiety and potentially split personality disorder.
He said the 35-year-old, previously the subject of emergency action under mental health laws, had recently expressed suicidal ideation.
The prosecutor added that the man's condition seemed to be "deteriorating", describing the early morning events as "somewhat inexplicable in terms of any underlying motive".
Mr Cook agreed to make the requested referral, ordering that the 35-year-old be taken in custody to Canberra Hospital for assessment.
The man will appear in court again to determine whether he should be granted bail once that has occurred.
The Canberra Times has chosen not to name him until there is further information before the court about his mental health.
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