A MAN accused of deliberately lighting a fire at a Red Cliffs house resulting in the death of a 52-year-old man denied telling a colleague he ignited the blaze with the knowledge that someone was inside, a court has been told.

David Cartledge, 38, who lived at the property with three other men including the deceased, is standing trial in the Supreme Court sitting at Mildura on a charge of murder as well as an alternate