Sydney blaze nurse pleads guilty to 11 murders

A man accused of deliberately lighting a deadly blaze that ripped through a Sydney nursing home in 2011, killing 11 elderly residents, pleaded guilty to murder on Monday.

Roger Dean, 37, was a nurse at the facility and entered 11 guilty pleas to murder on the first day of his trial in the Supreme Court.

He also admitted eight counts of causing grievous bodily harm to other mostly infirm residents of the home, some of whom suffered from dementia or were blind.

Three residents perished during the inferno Dean started and eight others died later from their injuries. The court has previously heard Dean started the blaze at two separate points in the building, which was badly damaged.

At the time Dean was described by locals as a friendly but quiet man who kept to himself and he was initially hailed a hero after fronting media outside the home as firefighters battled to contain the flames.

He told reporters then that he “just quickly did what I could to get everyone out”.