Newtown synagogue arson accused motivated by money, not hatred, court told

The Guardian

14-07-2025

A man who allegedly started a fire at a Sydney synagogue was not motivated by hatred or religious beliefs but instead was following instructions for a payday, a court has been told.
Adam Edward Moule, 34, was arrested over an attack on Newtown synagogue in Sydney's inner west, and antisemitic graffiti sprayed in Queens Park in the city's east in January.
He and neighbour Leon Emmanuel Sofilas allegedly left a van containing fire extinguishers filled with red paint to be collected by people who used them to spray paint an offensive slogan on property in Queens Park.
Moule then allegedly set a small fire at the synagogue, the boundary wall of which Sofilas allegedly defaced with nearly a dozen swastikas.
But Moule did not know the fire extinguishers would be used for offensive slogans or what was being spray painted, the New South Wales supreme court was told on Monday.
Moule is not accused of acting out of religious hatred or in furtherance of any ideology or discriminatory belief; prosecutors allege he was following instructions issued by Sofilas, who in turn claims he was receiving directions from another man.
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The prosecutor likened Moule's alleged offending to a person receiving directions through service platforms like Uber or Airtasker.
'Everything was kept very separate and it was passed down [through] distinct groups of people,' he said.
The organisers allegedly wanted police to believe they had valuable information which could be exchanged for an affidavit of assistance in serious drug matters.
But there was a possibility Moule would commit further offences if he was released on bail ahead of his anticipated guilty pleas later in July, the prosecutor said.
Moule's lawyer, Mark Klees, argued he had already spent nearly six months in custody on remand and would not be at liberty for long before being sentenced.
Refusing bail could have 'drastic consequences' including Moule possibly losing his home and winding up homeless, Klees said.
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Justice Desmond Fagan said the offending was 'of a very low order' considering Moule's lack of initiation and the 'almost negligible property damage' caused by the fire, but it was more serious because he allegedly knew he was at a synagogue.
Starting a fire outside a place of worship conveyed a threat to the congregation and had 'the capacity to induce apprehension in them of community hostility or even violence', the judge said.
He granted Moule bail under strict conditions including daily reporting to police, abstaining from drugs and alcohol, and abiding by a nightly curfew.
Moule has also been charged with growing 15 cannabis plants and possessing five stolen debit cards after police raided his home.
He is expected to enter pleas when he returns to court.