A man who allegedly torched a prison warder’s car in Qormi in January was remanded in custody after pleading not guilty on Wednesday. 

Tony Zammit, a 42-year-old Qormi resident, was escorted to court under arrest and charged with having set fire to the Toyota Platz, parked on Triq San Edwardu in the early hours of January 25. 

Working on CCTV footages retrieved from the area around the crime scene, investigators from the Major Crimes Unit and the district police station managed to identify both vehicle and driver involved in the attack. 

Those investigations pointed in the direction of the suspect who was subsequently arrested. 

Upon his arraignment, the man pleaded not guilty to several charges including those related to the arson as well as others stemming from a separate incident that broke out on Monday when the suspect was about to be taken into police custody. 

Prosecuting Inspectors Wayne Camilleri and Kevin Pulis explained how on Monday at around 1.30pm, a police sergeant had turned up to escort Zammit to the local police station.

But the man reacted violently, forcefully dragging the officer over some “25 feet”, the court was told.

On Wednesday, he was also charged with attacking the officer, violently resisting arrest, slightly injuring the officer, escaping police custody, as well as damaging police property.

He was further charged with driving in a dangerous manner and breaching court orders. 

No request for bail was made at the arraignment stage and the court, presided over by magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo, remanded the accused in custody. 

Lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia were defence counsel. Lawyer Mario Mifsud appeared as parte civile.