A man who torched a prison warder’s car in Qormi in January 2021 has been jailed for five years after being convicted of the crime.

Tony Zammit, a 45-year-old Qormi resident, was found guilty of having torched a Toyota Platz, parked on Triq San Edwardu in the early hours of January 25.

The car belonged to a warder who at the time worked in Division 5 at Corradino Correctional Facility.

A blue Opel Astra parked in front of the burning car was also extensively damaged.  

Zammit was also convicted of injuring a police sergeant when he sped off with his car after asking officers to get something from his car during his arrest. The sergeant was dragged for a considerable distance before he let go and fell to the ground. He was also found guilty of disobeying police orders and damaging the sergeant’s uniform.

Magistrate Leonard Caruana heard how Zammit was identified by investigators from the Major Crimes Unit and the district police while they were checking CCTV footage.

They saw a person wearing a hoodie, a face mask, tracksuit trousers with two white lines along the hem and sports shoes with a white sole. The person’s face was covered with the hoodie and the mask, making him unrecognisable. 

Since the police knew Zammit from previous cases, they suspected that it was him, so an arrest warrant was issued and he was detained when he went to sign his bail book at the police station more than two weeks later.

During a search at his house, the police found a pair of tracksuit trousers and shoes very similar to those worn by the person in the CCTV footage. 

He was also identified through the car that he was driving on the night of the arson. Although the car was registered in his brother’s name, his sibling told the police that Zammit was using the car since he had to take it to the mechanic. 

In a pre-sentencing report, the court was told about Zammit’s turbulent past as well as his drug addiction, which saw him incarcerated for drug abuse. He was only 15 when he was first jailed. Although he spent a few years away from the habit, he began abusing drugs again. 

While in jail, he managed to stay away from drugs and worked as a baker in the facility’s bakery. However, the moment he was released, he fell for the “habit that has ruined his life”.  The probation officer recommended that treatment be given for drug abuse in an exhaustive manner and a controlled environment. 

Magistrate Caruana ruled that, apart from the five-year prison sentence for the crime he had committed, the court hoped the treatment order would help him overcome the drug addiction.

Police inspectors Wayne Camilleri and Kevin Pulis prosecuted. Lawyer Mario Mifsud appeared as parte civile.