Old Parliament House fire: Bruce Shillingsworth and Nicholas Reed found guilty

A fire that caused millions of dollars in damage to the front of Old Parliament House was started deliberately, a jury has determined.

Bruce Shillingsworth Jr and Nicholas Reed went on trial in the ACT Supreme Court after pleading not guilty to arson and complicity in arson, and damaging Commonwealth property.

After a two-day trial, the jury found both men guilty on Monday.

Both men were accused of being leaders of the group that camped near the Aboriginal Tent Embassy and damaged Old Parliament House on December 30, 2021.

As the jury read their verdict, Reed and Shillingsworth’s supporters, gathered in the back of the Canberra courtroom, gasped.

Leaning forward, someone shouted ‘no’ as Shillingsworth was found guilty. The woman wept quietly as the group whispered to each other about the outcome.

Neither Reed nor Shillingsworth visibly reacted to the verdict.

Crown Prosecutor Soraya Saikal-Skea told the court that the protest had been largely peaceful until then.

CCTV footage presented to the court shows what the jury believes was Reed removing supplies for a smoking ceremony from a silver Mercedes before starting a fire.

Reed was later seen putting coal on a piece of wood and carrying it up the stairs. The prosecution claimed that he then placed it in front of the door, where it caught fire.

Already attorney James Sabharwal argued that it was “difficult” for the jury to identify a complete stranger from a few CCTV videos.

“You’ve only seen him sitting in court. How difficult (is it) for you to identify a complete stranger,” Mr Sabharwal said during closing arguments.

The attorney argued that the jury could not reach a conclusion based solely on the “presumption” that the man in the footage was Reed.

But the jury ultimately sided with the prosecution, finding that the evidence, including the registration of the silver Mercedes in the name of a woman who shared the same surname and address as the accused, was sufficient to convict.

Meanwhile, Shillingsworth was found guilty of aiding and arson by coordinating protesters, ordering someone to hide cameras and making contact with other protesters to prevent police from putting out the blaze.

The prosecution alleged that Shillingsworth had encouraged members to “take a stand” and “come over here and kick in this door” the day before the incident.

Social media footage presented to the court on Thursday showed Shillingsworth giving an emotional speech to fellow protesters in the building’s portico.

We can break down any door. Doors of injustice. Doors of Genocide. Doors where they take our children and where they hide behind, he heard it said.

In another December 29, 2021 video, Shillingworth referred to the “eviction papers” the group had posted on the doors of Old Parliament House.

“We have made that notification. An immediate notice of eviction… We tell them to move immediately,” he said in the video played in court.

CCTV and body camera footage from December 30 identified Shillingsworth as part of the crowd blocking police attempts to reach the blaze.

Ms. Saikal-Skea asked the jury if they could ‘deduce’ from the videos, beyond reasonable doubt, that Shillingsworth had helped and encouraged Reed.

In his own closing speech, Shillingsworth argued that the day’s events were simply a cultural ceremony.

“What we wanted to do was go in and smoke out that place,” he said Friday.

‘The smoking ceremony is a cleansing process. It is meant to purify the evil spirits. Believe me, there are many bad spirits in that place. That’s where they made the decisions to kill my people.’