A 21-year-old storekeeper from Valletta was remanded in custody on Wednesday after pleading not guilty to his involvement in four arson cases. 

Brentley Pace denied setting three cars and the front door of a residence alight in July, August and September. He was also charged with damaging property. 

Police Inspector Jeffrey Scicluna explained that Pace was arrested in September and granted police bail until the police received more information.  

He said he was identified through CCTV footage and through the use of a scooter which is registered in his name. The police also found clothes that he had been wearing at the time of the incident. 

He was arrested in September on the strength of a warrant issued by the magistrate carrying out the inquiry. "We never had doubts on his involvement but were just waiting for results of tests carried out by experts appointed through the inquiry," the inspector said. 

He added that the accused did not cooperate with the police in their investigations. 

"This was not an isolated incident but a series of arson attacks which terrorised Valletta residents," he said. 

Defence counsel David Gatt contested his client's arrest, insisting that there was no link between the crimes and the accused. He said there were 16,000 scooters like his client's. 

Gatt added that, at the time on the crimes, he was at home with his grandmother in Valletta and there was CCTV footage to prove this. 
Moreover,  it was his first time in court. 

Magistrate Nadine Lia refused the bail request and the accused was remanded in custody. 

Police inspectors Saviour Baldacchino and Pricilla Caruana prosecuted.