But the court heard the daughter of Darren Reid and the woman accused of his murder told a CFA officer that night three men had set him alight.

Paramedics Brad Kenyon and Howard Hall were among the witnesses yesterday in the trial of Kate Stone, who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Reid.

The court heard Mr Kenyon and Mr Hall were called to the couple’s Derwent Drive, Long Gully home about 11.40pm on December 18, 2016.

Mr Hall said he found a man in the bath with severe burns, which he judged he would not survive.

The court was told Mr Hall wrote in his notes the patient had answered the front door, was doused in petrol and was “lit up”.

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The court heard Mr Kenyon and Mr Hall treated Mr Reid in the back of the ambulance after taking him from the house, while a third paramedic drove and police officer Constable Narelle Taylor sat in the front.

Mr Hall said he did not hear Mr Kenyon nor Constable Taylor ask questions of Mr Reid about what happened or who did it, nor did he hear responses.

The court heard Mr Kenyon asked Mr Reid what had happened and he replied someone had thrown petrol over him, but when Constable Taylor asked who did it, he did not respond. Mr Kenyon said he then asked and Mr Reid replied “I don’t know”.

In response to questions from defence counsel Peter Kilduff, Mr Kenyon said he did not hear Constable Taylor ask further questions about the identity of the attacker, telling the court he was “greatly concerned about (Mr Reid’s) airways”.

Mr Kenyon said he also did not hear Mr Reid’s alleged responses that the attacker was male, aged late 20s to 30s, and might have been the man who attacked him and his “other half” about three weeks prior.

He said he did not hear Mr Reid tell Constable Taylor it was the “same three guys” who had earlier attacked them.

Bendigo CFA senior station officer Dale Stemmer told the court Ms Stone and who he believed were her two daughters were on the street as the fire trucks approached the home that night.

He said the older daughter told him three males had thrown something on Mr Reid and set him alight.

Mr Stemmer said the backyard and rear porch, where the CFA found a small fire, were dark.

He told the court he smelled a flammable liquid at the scene.

During cross-examination by Mr Kilduff, Mr Stemmer said he would describe Ms Stone as “increasingly agitated”, and there was a lot of yelling.

Leading firefighter Robert Lindsay told the court the fire at the home was at the edge of the rear porch. Once it was extinguished, he said he did a search for further fire, but did not find anything.

Mr Lindsay told the court when he went into the house he encountered Ms Stone, who was “out of control, very angry, incoherent” and said “Where’s the f*****g ambulance?” The court heard Mr Lindsay said in his statement he also heard Ms Stone say “Why would they have come across the fence?”

He told the court once he reached the bathroom Mr Reid said to him “I’m f****d mate, aren’t I?” Mr Lindsay said he could not smell accelerant on Mr Reid.

Leading firefighter Stuart Laing told the court he found a lot of smoke inside the home, and a woman saying “I called for an ambulance, where’s the ambulance, my husband needs an ambulance”.

Mr Laing said the woman said two men had set her husband on fire and had been there two weeks prior. The court heard in his statement he described her saying a “group” of men.

Senior Constable Christopher Gomez, who attended with Constable Taylor that night, told the court Ms Stone was not forthcoming with personal details when first asked that night, but told him a male named Jason Baxter had tried to break in and had “lit (Mr Reid) up” when confronted.

He said she told him there were two other makes in the backyard, but could not recall if Ms Stone was unable to identify them or unwilling to give the information.

During questioning from Mr Kilduff, Senior Constable Gomez said Ms Stone told her daughters not to talk to him that night, although it was not in his statement.

The court heard the police officer’s notes on the night recorded Ms Stone said she had burns to her body, but his statement said the burns were to her hands. Senior Constable Gomez said he recalled Ms Stone saying she was unable to hold the steering wheel properly.

The court also heard from a police officer who dealt with an incident at the splash park on November 27 that year.

Leading Senior Constable Shane Bourke said he and his partner were called to reports of a nine-year-old boy in possession of a boning knife and found two children, a 12-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl, alleging the boy had made threats towards them.

Leading Senior Constable Bourke said the boy was with Mr Reid, his father, who was agitated and said the children were bullying his son. The court heard the police officers attended Mr Reid’s home that afternoon in relation to the incident, and were called back just after 7pm to a report of an aggravated burglary.

Leading Senior Constable Bourke said Mr Reid told him no police were required. Ms Stone was abusing them, he said, but told them of an incident involving three males and asked why it took them so long to arrive.

He said a neighbour told him the only person she had seen leave the premises in the hour prior was Ms Stone.

Leading Senior Constable Bourke said they then attended an Energetic Street address in relation to the splash park incident, where there were four males, including Paul Gibson – the father of one of the children – Jason Baxter and Glenn Anderson. Mr Gibson told him he had not attended Mr Reid and Ms Stone’s home, he said.

The trial continues.

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