Valletta arsonist drove scooter as he set cars on fire

A court has heard how a man on an electric scooter, wearing a hoodie and a backpack, was thought to be behind a string of arson attacks in Valletta, one of which had targeted the mayor’s car.

The first sitting of the compilation of evidence against Brentley Pace, 21, took place on Tuesday. Pace is pleading not guilty to four arson attacks in the capital.

Prosecuting Inspector Saviour Baldacchino testified on Tuesday, telling magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit how investigators had pieced together the evidence, after the first attack targeting a building in St Paul’s Street used as a store, took place in April.

On that first occasion, no foul play was suspected, but following another fire that broke out on July 27 in Fountain Street, which destroyed a Peugeot 3008 and three motorbikes parked nearby, the police had started investigating.

The owner of the Peugeot testified, telling the court how that evening around 10:00pm, he had been watching television at a friend’s house when he saw a flash of light outside the window.

He thought little of it, at first thinking it was festa fireworks. But when this was followed, seconds later, by an explosion he had rushed outside and found his car transformed into a ball of flame. Three nearby motorbikes were also engulfed. The car was a total loss.

The owner of the Peugeot had no idea why his vehicle was targeted, he told the court. Another witness, the owner of one of the motorbikes, recalled finding his Hyosung Mirage as a molten wreck.

Further arson attacks took place in August, targeting a Citroen and a month later a BMW 520d belonging to mayor Alfred Zammit, was set alight on September 24, at around midnight.

Inspector Baldacchino, who forms part of the Major Crimes Unit, told the magistrate how CCTV camera and CVA camera footage had allowed the police to piece together the events.

Working their way backwards from the various incidents, the police had traced the suspicious actions of the driver of a Toyota Vitz who entered Valletta, parked his vehicle, pulled out an electric scooter from the back of his car and drove off on it. The scooter was the common factor in all the arson attacks, said the police.

The police also managed to establish the suspect’s modus operandi, which police began to look out for after a forensic expert analyzed a stone found under one of the burnt vehicles.

The suspect would allegedly douse the vehicle with a flammable liquid, step back and set alight an object which he then threw at the vehicle that was set alight.

A hoodie, similar to that worn by the suspect in the footage, was subsequently found at a Valletta residence where Pace lived. A scooter and a backpack, also similar to those seen in the footage, were retrieved from an Mgarr residence which the accused occasionally visited.

The court declared that it had seen sufficient evidence for the accused to be placed under a bill of indictment.

A request for bail was upheld, after the court heard how the accused had a clean criminal record, a full-time job and had respected police bail conditions prior to his arraignment.

Bail was granted against a deposit of €800, a personal guarantee of €15,000, with the accused ordered to observe a curfew and sign a bail book three times a week. He was ordered not to approach any of the alleged victims.

Inspector Priscilla Caruana Lee also prosecuted.

Lawyer David Gatt assisted the accused.