Three men accused of being involved with an arson spree which caused more than £1m in property damage have been sent to Crown Court.
Joshua Brinkley, 19, Oliver Williams, 19, and Connor Luck, 21, will face charges of arson at Lewes Crown Court next month.
Brinkley, from Polegate is accused of setting seven fires during a six month period in 2021.
Luck is accused of arson in two of the same incidents.
Williams is accused of arson in another one of the same incidents.
Between June and November 2021, there were eight arson attacks in various locations around Sussex but mainly focused between Eastbourne, Lewes and Seaford.
Prosecutor David Packer told Brighton Magistrates’ Court the total amount of damage was more than £1m.
“These are serious matters,” he said.
“There appears to have been a pattern.”
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Barns, haybales, derelict buildings and a car were targeted in the near five month spate of fires.
District Judge Terese Szagun said Brinkley, of Southfield in Polegate, Williams, of Porters Way in Polegate and Luck of Balls Green in Withyham, near Crowborough, will appear in court again at Lewes on May 25.
At 10.27pm on Friday June 26, 2021, police were called by West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service to a large fire at a derelict property in Broadwater Lane, Horsham.
On Thursday July 8, at 3.39am, police were alerted by East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service to a large fire at a derelict property in Wivelsfield Green where eight fire engines were in attendance.
At 7.23am on Sunday August 29, police were contacted by East Sussex Fire and Rescue to a large deliberate fire at two outbuildings in Lower Willingdon that contained cylinders and farm machinery.
On Tuesday November 2, at 2.54am, police assisted East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service with a large fire in a barn on farmland off the A26 at Beddingham.
At 4.32am on Thursday November 4, police were called to assist East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service with road closures following a hay bale fire at a vineyard in Alfriston Road near Rathfinny, Alfriston.
On Saturday November 6, at 10.49pm, police attended two large barns on fire in Tarring Neville with smoke going into the A26.
At 4.04am on Sunday November 7, police were contacted by East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service to a report of a silver Vauxhall Corsa being on fire in Lewes Road, Ringmer.
And at 5.28am on the same day, police assisted the fire service with a road closure following a large fire involving haybales within a field in Litlington Road, Seaford.
Investigations into each of the fires were carried out by officers and the causes were confirmed as arson.
The barn near Beddingham was largely destroyed and has not been rebuilt, while the other buildings were seriously damaged.
The estimated value of the total damage caused was £1,117,825.
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