A man suspected to have set several cars on fire in Valletta drove up to his targets on an electric scooter and hurled incendiary 'Molotov cocktails' at them, a court heard on Wednesday.

Details emerged during the first hearing of the compilation of evidence against Brentley Pace, a 21-year old storekeeper who is pleading not guilty to four arson attacks in the capital, the last of which had targeted the mayor’s BMW.

Prosecuting Inspector Saviour Baldacchino gave a step-by-step account of how investigators pieced together evidence since the first attack targeting the door of a store in St Paul’s Street back in April.

On that occasion, police had suspected no foul play.

But following another fire that broke out on July 27 in Fountain Street, close to St Elmo Place, destroying a Peugeot 3008 and three motorbikes parked nearby, police suspicions were aroused and investigations took a different turn.

The owner of that Peugeot vehicle also testified, recalling how that evening around 10pm, he had been watching television at a friend’s place when a flash of light outside caught his eye through the window overlooking the street.

At first he thought that it was some festa fireworks.

But the next instant, he heard a loud explosion and rushing outside, he found his car engulfed by a raging fire that spread to three motorbikes parked nearby.

The car was a total loss.

I never wronged anyone. I would like to know why?- Car owner

“I never wronged anyone. I would like to know why?” the perplexed Peugeot owner said in court.

Another witness, the owner of one of the motorbikes, a Hyosung Mirage purchased around one year and a half previously for €3700, recalled how the bike had been “melted to the ground”.

Another arson took place in August, targeting a Citroen vehicle that had been parked in East Street.

A month later, the BMW 520d belonging to mayor Alfred Zammit, went up in flames on September 24, at around midnight.

Inspector Baldacchino, from the Major Crimes Unit, explained how footage retrieved from CCTV cameras as well as from the city’s CVA system had enabled police to put together the pieces of the puzzle.

Working their way backwards from the various incidents, they had traced the manoeuvres of the driver of a Toyota Vitz who entered Valletta, parked his vehicle, pulled out an electric scooter from the luggage boot and rode through the streets.

That scooter appeared to be the common factor linking the rider to the arsons.

The court also heard of the suspect’s peculiar modus operandi, which police began to look at after an arson expert analyzed a stone found under one of the burnt vehicles.

The suspect would allegedly douse the vehicle with liquid, then step back, light a hand-held object which he then aimed at the vehicle that was set alight.

One eye-witness had described it as “a Molotov cocktail.” (usually a bottle full of fuel with a lit fuse)

A hoodie, similar to that worn by the suspect as seen in the footage, was subsequently found at a Valletta residence where Pace lived.

A scooter and backpack, also similar to those seen in the footage, were retrieved from an Mgarr residence which the accused occasionally visited.

Two officers from the Valletta police station also testified.

Asked by defence lawyer David Gatt whether the retrieved footage excluded any other electric scooters in the capital at the time of the arsons, one police witness said that although the CVA did not register such scooters, other footage appeared to indicate that there was only one such scooter at the time the attacks took place.

There was sufficient evidence for the accused to be placed under a bill of indictment, the court declared, as the hearing drew to an end.

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, a curfew between 9pm and 4am, signing of the bail book three times a week and under strict orders not to approach any of the alleged victims.

Inspector Priscilla Caruana Lee also prosecuted.

Lawyer David Gatt assisted the accused.