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NSW: Second teen charged over arson on Sydney trains

22 Nov 2008 9:03 AM

SYDNEY, Nov 22 AAP - A second teenage boy has been charged over fires onthree separate Sydney trains in recent weeks, police say.

A 16-year-old was arrested at Marsfield in the city's west at around 11.20am (AEDT) on Friday.

It is alleged he and three friends gathered piles of paper and set them alight on train carriages on three separate occasions.

Police allege the first attack was on September 13 on a northern line trainapproaching Strathfield, the second was on an inner-west train on September 18, and the third was on a northern line between Concord and Strathfield on October 2.

On each occasion guards were alerted and the fires quickly extinguished, but not before they caused damage to carriages estimated to be worth in excess of10,000, police say.

Other passengers were in the carriages at the time of the fires, but no onewas injured.

The teenager has been charged with arson, property damage and other transport related offences.

He was refused bail and is due to appear at Parramatta Children's Court on Saturday.

On November 13, police arrested a 14-year-old boy from Eastwood in Sydney'swest over the same arson attacks.

Police have made 956 arrests in the Sydney metropolitan area since September for a range of criminal, railway safety safety and transport offences.

AAP cjbjfm

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