Two men accused of arson granted bail
Both men are also charged with breaking bail conditions
Two men have been granted bail and released from preventive custody after they were accused of arson.
Qormi resident Mahmoud Farhoud and Santa Venera resident Mohamed Alkert, both Syrian nationals, were charged with setting a car on fire on Triq id-Daħħan in Mosta. They were also charged with breaching public peace and disturbing residents.
Farhoud was accused of driving without a valid licence or insurance cover, of having a weapon without a licence and of breaching bail conditions. He denied the charges.
Alkert was charged separately with driving without a valid licence or insurance cover and breaching bail conditions. He also denied all the charges brought against him.
In court on Thursday, police inspector Keith Rizzo testified that the Mosta district police found a Toyota Passo ablaze after being informed of the fire by the Police’s control room.
Rizzo clarified that the car was actually parked on Triq id-Daħħan and not Independence Avenue as was first included in the report, and the car had been set on fire by two men using a white motorcycle.
The investigators combed through some 80 CCTV footage videos and followed the motorcycle, a white Kimko Agility, all the way to Qormi where the pair stopped and transferred to a Toyota Vitz.
The car proceeded to Kirkop, where one of the men left the vehicle. The other suspect returned to Qormi in the vehicle police later established belonged to Farhoud’s girlfriend.
From the CCTV footage, Farhoud was seen entering his residence and reemerging after he changed his clothes. Sometime later, he returned to the property before exiting with a crash helmet.
Alkert, who was also identified from CCTV footage, was seen holding a bottle with a red cap which the prosecution alleged contained the accelerant used in the arson attack.
The police inspector told the court that Alkert most likely drove the motorcycle while Farhoud drove the car.
After the two men were arrested, their residence was searched. Investigators found the clothes Farhoud had been seen wearing on the CCTV footage, and a loaded firearm.
At Alkert’s residence they found the same clothes as he appeared in the footage and other bottles with a red cap.
The two accused requested bail. The court took into consideration their criminal record, the stage at which the proceedings were at and the circumstances of the case and accused.
Both men were granted bail against a deposit of €3,500 and a €6,500 personal guarantee. They were also ordered to sign the bail book daily. A curfew was also imposed.
Magistrate Giannella Camilleri Busuttil presided.
AG lawyer Joseph Camilleri Azarov prosecuted together with police inspectors Keith Rizzo and Stephen Gulia.
Lawyers Franco Debono, Charles Mercieca and Matthew Xuereb are assisting the two men.