A Vietnamese refugee camp inmate threatened to kill his girlfriend and her daughter if she told the authorities about his alleged role in causing a fire at the centre, a court heard yesterday. Dang Thanh-tam, 31, told the District Court that Bui Van Trong, 31, also punched her and bashed her head with a folding chair after the warning. The mother of an eight-year-old girl testified that she saw Trong and inmates Tran Trong-manh, 20, and Nguyen Manh-thuong, 17, throw molotov cocktails which started a fire at Pillar Point refugee camp on June 13. The three have pleaded not guilty to arson. Trong has also denied a charge of criminal intimidation relating to Ms Dang on June 16. He has pleaded guilty to common assault against his girlfriend on the same day. Ms Dang told the court that on June 13, Tran and Nguyen rushed to her room and asked Trong to take part in a fight against Chinese inmates. She said the pair were holding bottles of beer stuffed with cotton and she followed them in a bid to stop Trong, but they hurled the bottles after lighting them. The prosecution allege that Nguyen also threw a lit bottle. 'I only knew that there was a strong fire and I heard the residents in that area crying,' Ms Dang said. The trial continues before Judge Peter Line.
